WASHINGTON _ On the inside of Alec Asher's left wrist is the tattooed message of a fortune cookie he received on one of the worst days of his career.
"Nothing can keep you from reaching your goals," the message reads.
Asher cracked open that fortune after San Francisco reneged on a contract agreement in 2010 when the Giants discovered a bone spur in his right elbow after they drafting Asher in the 23rd round. His baseball future was on the rails. And if that was a bad day, then the afternoon in June _ when Asher was suspended for 80 games after testing positive for a drug he claims he did not take _ was an even worse one.
That tattooed message was tucked under Asher's glove on Thursday night at Nationals Park as the right-hander picked up his baseball career in a 4-1 win over Washington.
Asher pitched six shutout innings, allowed two hits and walked one to earn his first major-league win. He stymied one of baseball's best offenses and held Bryce Harper hitless in four at-bats. The 24-year-old is the first Phillies pitcher since Kevin Gross in 1975 to pitch six shutout innings without recording a strikeout.
It was Asher's first major-league start since he tested positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, an anabolic steroid that was created in the 1960s for East German Olympians. Roughly a half dozen ballplayers have tested positive for it this summer and all of them _ including former Phillies reliever Daniel Stumpf _ said they did not know how the drug entered their systems.
Asher's night was aided by plenty of run support. Peter Bourjos homered off the left-field foul pole to start the third inning. Ryan Howard followed five batters later with a three-run homer to center. The Phillies chased Washington starter A.J. Cole after just five innings. Edubray Ramos, Hector Neris, and Jeanmar Gomez pieced together the final three innings when Asher was lifted after throwing 75 pitches.
Asher was one of the organization's early-season surprises before his suspension. He rebranded himself behind a developed sinker and had a 2.30 ERA in eight starts between Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He was on the disabled list with a stress fracture in his lower right leg at the time of his suspension.
The Phillies acquired Asher last summer from Texas as part of the trade that sent Cole Hamels to the Rangers. The two other young arms the Phillies received _ Jake Thompson and Jerad Eickhoff _ will pitch on Friday and Saturday. It will be a neat three-day window into what the Phillies were able to get for one of the best pitchers in franchise history.
"Pretty cool, huh?" manager Pete Mackanin remarked before the game.
Yes, Thursday night was pretty cool. Asher will finish the season in the starting rotation, spend his winter pitching in the Dominican Republic, and then compete in the spring for a spot in a starting rotation that should be brimming with young talent. And if Asher needs a reminder of where he has been, he can just flip over his wrist.
