clarinews@clarinet.com (09/21/89)
ATLANTA (UPI) -- Alex Trevino said he was just trying to make contact with the ball when he blasted a home run leading off the 14th inning Wednesday night to lift the Houston Astros to a 7-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves. ``I was having a hard time at the plate,'' said Trevino, a former Brave. ``I was just trying to make contact that last time at the plate so I slowed down my swing a little.'' Trevino ripped a 1-2 pitch down the left-field line off Joe Boever, 4-11, the sixth Atlanta pitcher. ``I got a changeup and got it over the fence,'' said Trevino. Larry Andersen, 4-4, earned the win pitching the 12th and 13th. Brian Meyer, the eighth Astros pitcher, picked up his first major-league save by pitching a scoreless 14th. Trevino said the Astros, trailing NL-West leader San Francisco by six games at the start of the night, can't afford any losses. ``There's no time with 10 games left,'' he said. ``We can't afford to lose a ball game and we're going to try to give it a shot.'' Trailing 6-2, the Astros tied it in the seventh. Bill Doran led off with a single off reliever Tony Castillo and went to second on a groundout. Pinch hitter Alex Trevino walked and Mark Eichhorn replaced Castillo. One out later, pinch hitt4er harry SpilmaN walked to load the bases. Kevin Bass then rippd a 1-2 pitch over the right-field fence for his fourth career grand slam -- second this season -- and his fifth homer. The grand slam was the sixth by the Astros this season setting a new club record. Atlanta took a 3-0 lead in the first off Houston starter Rick Rhoden. With two out, Dave Justice singled and Lonnie Smith walked. Darrell Evans thern singled to score Justice. Mark Lemke followed with a two-run double. The Astros got a run back in the second when Rafael Ramirez singled to score Terry Puhl who led off the inning with a double. The Braves upped it to 4-1 in the third on a run-scoring single by Evans. Atlanta increased their lead to 6-1 in the fifth on a two-run double by Lemke. Houston made it 6-2 in the sixth off Atlanta Rusty Richards, making his major league debut, on Craig Biggio's 12th home run. Richards allowed five hits over 5 1-3 innings, walking three and striking out one. Rhoden gave up five hits over 2 1-3, walking two.