Jones passes Robinson with pair of homers
With first- and ninth-inning dingers off Scherzer, O's All-Star in eighth place on club's all-time list with 180
BALTIMORE -- Adam Jones homered twice off Nationals starter Max Scherzer in Sunday's 3-2 loss, providing a bright spot as he passed Hall of Famer Frank Robinson for sole possession of eighth place on the Orioles' all-time list.
"Frank, any time you do anything and mention his name, that's pretty cool," said Jones, who has 180 career homers with Baltimore. "He did that in six years here? Took me eight. He's a little better. Any time you are in the conversation with him, especially with this rich history the Orioles do have, it's pretty cool."
Jones hit No. 179 in his first at-bat in the first inning to tie Robinson, and he hit his second solo shot with two outs in the ninth to chase Scherzer from the game.
Video: WSH@BAL: Jones' solo shot opens scoring in the 1st
"He had some success statistically against him," manager Buck Showalter said of Jones. "You don't ever feel like a guy like [Scherzer] you've figured him out. Guys know. Didn't just quite finish a couple breaking balls, and Adam got out there, strong enough, and the ball was carrying pretty good on the second one. The first one he got pretty good. But [Scherzer] didn't make many mistakes. That's for sure."
Jones' homers accounted for two of the four hits Scherzer allowed over his 8 2/3 innings, and he struck out seven.
"He was able to get it to a special place in this park," Scherzer said. "He just did a good job competing against me with two strikes and hitting my offspeed stuff. Credit to him."
Jones now trails Ken Singleton (182) for seventh place on the Orioles' all-time home run list.