Dierker’s Return a Winner

The Houston Astros won in Larry Dierker’s return from brain surgery.

Derek Bell got the big two-run, go-ahead single that capped a comeback from a six-run deficit.

So you’d think Bell would be happy after Thursday night’s 8-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

But that wasn’t the case.

Dierker dropped him to the No. 6 spot in the batting order.

“It’s like I just got here,” Bell said. “I’ve been here helping this team for five years. It hurts.”

Bell, who batted second in recent years, hit only .244 in the first half of the season.

Fans responded by booing.

“I don’t expect that from the fans after what I’ve done,” he said. “The fans are saying, ‘Trade him.’ I hear it when I’m in the outfield and when I’m at the plate. I try to block it out, but it hurts. It’s like a slap in the face after all I’ve done for this team. The way the fans treat me, I don’t expect to be here next year. I figured if I didn’t come through, they’d boo me out of the stadium.”

So much for rallying around the manager in his return.

“I hoped he would do well,” Dierker said. “I tried to point out to him that there was a lot of opportunity in that spot for a guy who gets a lot of RBIs. We’re hoping the other guys will get on base and give him more RBI opportunities.”

Dierker collapsed in the dugout on June 13, and two days later had brain surgery to repair malformed blood vessels. Houston went 13-14 under interim manager Matt Galante, the team’s bench coach.

“It was a wonderful comeback to come back with a comeback win,” Dierker said. “That’s kind of the way we did it last year.”

Dierker received a standing ovation when he appeared in the dugout and got a warm greeting from the umpiring crew when he went to home plate with the starting lineup. Dierker and his wife, Judy, got another ovation in the fifth when their picture appeared on an outfield screen.

For most of the night, it didn’t seem as though the Astros would be successful in his return, but they wound up with their biggest comeback since rallying from a four-run deficit to beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-4, on June 4.

With the Astros trailing, 6-0, Jeff Bagwell hit a three-run homer against Dave Mlicki in the fifth. Houston pulled within a run in the sixth after Bell reached on first baseman Tony Clark’s error leading off. Tim Bogar then tripled to make the score 6-4, and scored on pinch-hitter Matt Mieske’s groundout.

Houston then went ahead in the seventh against a pair of former Astros. Willie Blair (1-8) walked Bill Spiers and Bagwell starting the inning, and Doug Brocail walked Richard Hidalgo.

Bell singled to center, and Bogar followed with an RBI grounder.

Trever Miller (1-1) pitched a two-hit seventh for the victory, and Billy Wagner pitched the ninth for his 23rd save in 24 chances.

Dean Palmer, who went three for four, narrowly missed hitting for the cycle. He homered in the first, singled in the fourth and tripled in the fifth.

Brad Ausmus went three for four against his former teammates.