National League Roundup : Trevino Shows Astros He Belongs

When the Dodgers settled on Rick Dempsey as their backup catcher and released Alex Trevino, he learned there weren’t any major league jobs open.

It appeared that at 30, his 10-year National League career was over. He jumped at the opportunity to sign with the Houston Astros’ Pacific Coast League team at Tucson.

Trevino’s break came when the Astros’ No. 2 receiver, Mark Bailey, was injured. Trevino showed the Astros just how grateful he is for another chance Sunday at St. Louis.

After hitting a double to set up the first run in the second inning, he jarred the ball loose from Cardinal catcher Tony Pena to score the winning run in the ninth inning of the Astros’ 2-1 victory over the Cardinals.

In one of the big days of his career, Trevino climaxed his 4 for 4 day by scoring from first on Chuck Jackson’s double with one out in the ninth. Trevino and the relay from second baseman Luis Alicea arrived at the plate at the same time, but Trevino knocked the ball loose.

With the Dodgers losing, the Astros increased their lead in the West to 1 1/2 games, taking 2 of 3 from the Cardinals.

While Trevino enjoyed a rare starring role, the Astros’ Billy Hatcher had a big weekend. He had three hits in this game and went 11 for 15 in the series. In the last eight games he is 18 for 35 and has raised his average from .256 to .312.

His main contribution in this game, though, was defensive. He crashed into the wall in left after making a spectacular catch of Vince Coleman’s line drive. Hatcher was stunned, but held on to the ball. If he drops it, Coleman gets an inside the park home run.

“I didn’t know nothing for about 30 seconds,” Hatcher said. “But nothing really bothers you when you’re getting hits and making contributions.”

The game was a duel between two of the league’s hottest pitchers, Jim Deshaies of the Astros and John Tudor. Both entered the game with low earned-run averages and each gave up a run. Both left during a rain delay in the eighth inning.

Pena’s third home run in three games accounted for the only Cardinal run.

Chicago 5, Cincinnati 1--If there was any doubt that rookie Mark Grace was ready for the majors, he has dispelled it.

The first baseman brought up from the minors as a replacement for the disappointing Leon Durham, hit a two-run home run and a two-run double at Cincinnati to lead the Cubs to victory.

Since being promoted to the Cubs, Grace, the former San Diego State star, has hit safely in 10 of 11 games.

“I was a good hitter when I was a minor leaguer,” Grace said. “It’s not strange for me to get hits.”

The youngster’s timely hitting enabled Greg Maddux to improve his record to 7-2. Maddux had two hits, scored two runs and drove in another but wore out in the humid weather from running the bases. He came out after six innings.

San Francisco 7, Montreal 2--In his previous outing, Kelly Downs gave up six runs before he could get five outs at San Francisco.

But, in this one, given a four-run cushion in the first inning, he held the Expos to four hits and two runs in eight innings to improve his record to 2-4.

Jeffrey Leonard had a triple, double and single to lead the Giants attack, while Will Clark and Jose Uribe hit home runs.

San Diego 9, Philadelphia 2--Eric Show has pitched some outstanding games this season and lost because his teammates didn’t score any runs.

It was fitting in this game at San Diego that when he wasn’t at his best, the Padres finally gave him some runs and he improved to 3-4.

John Kruk homered and drove in four runs to pace the Padres’ 11-hit attack on Kevin Gross (4-2) and successors. Gross had won four in a row.