Scott homers twice in Bulls' victory

Monday's matinee between the Durham Bulls and visiting Buffalo Bisons was televised nationally on MLB Network, but the final score would have been right at home in the NFL.

Buoyed by a two-homer, four-RBI performance by rehabbing Rays designated hitter Luke Scott, the Bulls charged to a 14-10 win over the Bisons.

Scott has been on the disabled list since June 9 with back stiffness. And prior to Monday's game, he told MLB.com his main objective while with the Bulls was to "be on the fastball."

Mission accomplished.

"I can't say that I felt locked in during those first two at-bats, it was kind of like Spring Training -- I was trying to find my comfort zone," Scott said. "But it got better as the day went along. ... My focus was to get ready early, see the ball for as long as I can, take pitches and be on the fastball. Overall, it was a really good day. I accomplished what I wanted to do."

Indeed, Scott's afternoon only improved as it went on. He grounded out in the first and was hit by a pitch in the fourth, then homered in the fifth and lifted a sacrifice fly in the sixth before capping the scoring with another long ball in the seventh.

Physically, Scott reported that everything felt "good enough" and that he was ready to go back to Tampa Bay when called upon.

"I feel like I could probably come up and do a good job ... but would I like more at-bats? Yeah, of course. Eight to 10 at-bats would be solid," he said. "At the same time, I felt locked in, so I'll leave that question up to [the Rays]."

Scott's heroics didn't occur in a vacuum. The game featured a whopping 33 hits and eight homers, and as such there were offensive standouts aplenty. Bulls catcher Steven Vogt reached base four times and fell a triple shy of the cycle, scoring three runs and driving in three. Durham got production from the bottom of the lineup as Shawn O'Malley and Cole Figueroa -- the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters -- both went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

The bulk of the offensive output occurred in the middle innings, and a tweet issued by the Bulls summed up the proceeding: "1 hour 24 minutes. 17 runs. 19 hits. Sound like a full game? Nope, that's just the 4th and 5th innings."

"This team was swinging the bat very well all the way through the lineup, putting good swings on good pitches," Scott said. "And the same went for [the Bisons] as well."

Buffalo's Josh Satin entered the game with four homers and 20 RBIs but significantly increased those numbers with a pair of blasts. He collected four hits, marking the second time in 2012 he's accomplished the feat.

It clearly was not a good day to be on the mound. Jhonny Nunez (2-2) recorded the win, despite allowing four runs -- three earned -- on five hits over two innings. Buffalo's Jack Egbert (2-4) retired two batters and was charged with five runs as his ERA jumped from 2.80 to 4.00.

Mark Cohoon struggled in his Triple-A debut for the Bisons, giving up seven runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 frames.