Drive's Scott powering up in grand fashion

Before Tuesday, Ryan Scott had never hit a grand slam in his life. Now he's got two.
The Red Sox outfield prospect went 3-for-5 with a grand slam, extending his home run streak to four games and powering Class A Greenville to a 16-5 thumping of Columbia on Wednesday at Fluor Field at the West End. He matched season highs with three hits and four RBIs, one night after he hit a grand slam in a loss to the Fireflies.

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"I've been feeling good the past week or so, just trying to have good at-bats and find some barrels," Scott said. "I was laughing yesterday -- that grand slam was the first one I ever hit in my life, so I definitely hadn't hit two consecutive."
On Wednesday, Scott struck out in the first inning after a seven-pitch battle with left-hander Martin Anderson (0-4), during which Santiago Espinal swiped home as part of a double steal. The Drive put up four runs in the second before loading the bases for Scott finished off another long at-bat with a grand slam to right-center.

"He had been working the corners my first at-bat and I [struck out on] a slider," Scott said. "We went 2-2 and I laid off the pitch he struck me out on the at-bat before. Once I took that pitch, I knew I was in a good spot to try and drive a ball and score the runner from third, but I just got it good."
The 2016 seventh-round pick led off the fourth with an infield single off Anderson before grounding to first in the sixth. Scott was part of another big inning in the seventh, reaching on another infield hit and watching No. 12 Red Sox prospectBobby Dalbec come around to score on a throwing error by second baseman Luis Carpio.
"We always laugh once guys start hitting -- guys start fighting to get to the bat rack to see who hits next," Scott said. "Hitting's contagious and it makes it a lot easier on everybody when we're swinging it well."
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After batting .154/.246/.250 in a 33-game stretch from the start of July through Aug. 18, Scott has put together a five-game hitting streak during which he's 7-for-20 with four homers and 13 RBIs. He'd homered 13 times in his previous 151 games with Class A Short Season Lowell last summer and Greenville.
"I've been working with hitting coach [Wilton Veras] a lot, and he's worked with me a lot on how to load and find rhythm when I'm hitting and not get too stagnant," the 24-year-old outfielder said. "Been working on that the past month or so and taking extra work in the cage, and it's paid off the past week or so. I've just been really thinking about fun, finding the barrel more and I guess it's just kind of catching it good a few times. [In] our park, [the ball] travels pretty well, so when you catch it good, it usually goes."

Greenville pounded out 16 hits, getting four-hit games from Espinal and 2017 third-round pick Brett Netzer, who had a career-high four RBIs and is 7-for-7 over his last two games to raise his average with the Drive nearly 50 points. Dalbec doubled twice and drove in three runs.
Jhonathan Diaz (6-5) allowed three runs -- two earned -- on four hits and two walks while striking out four over six innings to earn the victory.