Advertisement

Rookie Derek Fisher helps Houston Astros to 5-0 victory over Philadelphia Phillies

By Josh Verlin, The Sports Xchange
Derek Fisher, freshly recalled from Triple-A Fresno, jumped right into the starting lineup Tuesday and came up with a key two-run single to help the Houston Astros earn a 5-0 victory over the Phillies. Photo courtesy of Houston Astros/Twitter
Derek Fisher, freshly recalled from Triple-A Fresno, jumped right into the starting lineup Tuesday and came up with a key two-run single to help the Houston Astros earn a 5-0 victory over the Phillies. Photo courtesy of Houston Astros/Twitter

PHILADELPHIA -- The last time Derek Fisher was at Citizens Bank Park, it was as a Philadelphia Phillies fan in 2010.

That night, the high school senior from Lebanon, Pa., watched Roy Halladay throw a no-hitter as the Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds in a National League Division Series game.

Advertisement

His return to South Philadelphia came from a slightly different vantage point -- as a member of the visiting Houston Astros.

Fisher, freshly recalled from Triple-A Fresno, jumped right into the starting lineup Tuesday and came up with a key two-run single to help the Astros earn a 5-0 victory over the Phillies.

"It's a great place, an awesome place, and it's fun to get a win here tonight," the rookie center fielder said. "It was fun, it was a lot of people here, high school coaches and teammates and guys that I'd went to school with."

Advertisement

Fisher went 1-for-3 with a walk, upping his average to .286 in his first 21 career major league at-bats. He also made two terrific catches in center in the first two innings. The only blemish was getting caught stealing after his only hit.

"I think it's a great tribute to what we're doing at Triple-A," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "The players are all sort of waiting, and as soon as there's an opportunity, they come up and contribute right away."

The five runs were more than enough to support Astros starter Charlie Morton (8-4), who threw seven shutout innings against the club he pitched four games for last year before a hamstring injury cost him the remainder of the 2016 season.

Morton threw 71 of his 105 pitches for strikes. He put together his most complete start of the season with nine strikeouts against only three hits and one walk, lowering his ERA from 4.18 to 3.83. He hit two batters, his eighth and ninth of the season.

"My delivery was all weird tonight, and then I kind of settled down," Morton said. "It's a nice feeling ... I'm wondering if it's going to be my last time pitching here, my mom's side of the family is here, my wife's family is here."

Advertisement

Phillies rookie starter Nick Pivetta (3-6) did well against the potent Astros' lineup early, limiting them to one run and one hit through the first five innings.

However, Houston's lineup got to Pivetta in the sixth, producing four runs and five hits, including a two-out, two-run single by Fisher into right to make it 5-0.

"Left a couple hanging sliders, that's about it," Pivetta said. "Definitely felt really well off my hand (early), I just hung two sliders. Few pitches got me tonight, that's how it goes."

Pivetta departed after six innings, having given up five runs and six hits with seven strikeouts as his ERA rose to 5.73.

The Phillies (34-64), who have the worst record in baseball, lost for the third time in four games. They are 8-12 this month, which has been their best of the season.

"The story of tonight was Pivetta," Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin said. "For five innings, he handled those guys really well ... (then) kind of fell apart, made some mistakes in the sixth inning, and that was all she wrote."

The Astros opened the scoring in the third inning. Third baseman Alex Bregman lined a triple to straightaway center and scored one batter later on a sacrifice fly to left by Norichika Aoki.

Advertisement

Bregman left the game after that inning with what was being called right hamstring tightness.

Bregman is the second Astros player to sustain a minor leg injury in Philadelphia. Outfielder George Springer was held out of Tuesday night's game with left quad discomfort that began while he made a catch Monday night. Both are day-to-day.

In the first two games of the series, both wins, the Astros (67-33) have 22 hits and 18 runs. That is nothing new for a team that entered play with a team batting average (.293) that was 15 points higher than the closest competition (Washington), having hit 16 more home runs and scored 52 more runs overall than anybody else in the majors.

NOTES: Phillies RHP Aaron Nola (7-6, 3.38 ERA) will face Astros RHP Mike Fiers (7-4, 3.59) in the series finale Wednesday night. ... Houston is 4-1 on a nine-game road trip that started in Baltimore and continues with three games in Detroit. ... Astros 2B Jose Altuve is hitting .494 this month after going 1-for-4. He is trying to become the first batter since Detroit's Ivan Rodriguez in 2004 to bat higher than .500 in a month (minimum of 80 at-bats). ... Houston is 18-15 all time at Citizens Bank Park, which opened in 2004.

Advertisement

Latest Headlines