BALTIMORE _ The Orioles gave Alec Asher another opportunity to start after a forgettable outing in Houston on Sunday, when the right-hander lasted just two innings in his first game replacing right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez in the rotation.
Up until then, Asher had been nothing but good while filling multiple roles _ spot starter, long man and late-inning reliever _ and manager Buck Showalter believed one rocky outing shouldn't force a haphazard decision to bump him. It didn't hurt that Asher's first win as a starter this season came against the Boston Red Sox, when he filled the spot created when right-hander Chris Tillman missed the season's first month with shoulder problems.
And Asher's building success was a byproduct of the confidence the Orioles showed in him, placing trust in the 25-year-old that he could do the job after he had become an accessory with the Philadelphia Phillies before a late-spring trade.
Asher rewarded the Orioles' faith in him Friday night, holding the Red Sox to two runs over 61/3 innings in a 3-2 win in front of an announced crowd of 33,193 at Camden Yards.
Asher held a Boston team that entered the day ranked second in the American League in hitting to just three hits. Asher allowed just one hit _ a solo homer run by Pablo Sandoval in the third _ over his first five innings, and retired 16 of the first 17 batters he faced.
It was the perfect rebound from Sunday, when Asher's command escaped him as he allowed six runs in a 42-pitch second inning against the Astros.
On Friday, Asher went back to what made him successful, pounding the bottom part of the zone with his two-seam sinking fastball and using that to build off breaking ball success.
Asher got ahead of the Red Sox early in the count, he threw first-pitch strikes to seven of his first 10 hitters and 12 of 22 on the night, relying on the two-seamer and an occasional curveball. Working the bottom part of the zone, he drew 14 called strikes on his sinker _ he threw the pitch 45 times _ and four swings and misses.
His one real mistake on the night was a 1-1 sinker with one out in the third, a pitch he left up to Sandoval, who sent it over the left-field fence.
Otherwise, Asher stifled the Red Sox. Just seven balls left the infield. Asher was the beneficiary of five infield popouts and five groundouts.
He yielded a leadoff double to Xander Bogaerts in the seventh. Bogaerts scored a run that was charged to Asher after right-hander Mychal Givens allowed an RBI single to Jackie Bradley Jr. later that inning.
In three outings against the Red Sox, including two starts, Asher owns a 3.38 ERA. On May 2, he held Boston to three runs over six innings at Fenway Park.
More importantly, Asher has three quality starts in his four starts this season. He is beginning to show that his last outing was out of the norm, and continuing to earn that confidence the Orioles have shown in him.
