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  Tuesday, May 9 8:05pm ET
Houston 13, Colorado 8
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

HOUSTON (AP) _ Everyone called Ken Caminiti's sixth career grand slam ``an Enron Field'' homer.

Caminiti hit a grand slam over the short left-field fence, and Craig Biggio had a bases-loaded triple Tuesday night, rallying the Houston Astros to a 13-8 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Caminiti's homer wouldn't have made it out of many major league ballparks, but it still counted, even after traveling the short distance to the Crawford Corner in left field, where it's 315 feet down the line.

``It was an Enron Field home run,'' Astros manager Larry Dierker said. ``But it was the right hit at the right time in the right ballpark.''

The slam came off Rockies starter Scott Karl, helping the Astros to trim a 7-1 Colorado lead to 7-6 in the fifth inning. Biggio put the Astros ahead with his big triple in the sixth.

``That's probably not out of any other park in baseball, but it's out of here,'' Karl said. ``I don't think it even gets to the warning track at Coors. What can you do?''

Jeff Bagwell, running the bases ahead of Caminiti, ran as hard as he could because he wasn't sure it was a homer.

``That was definitely an Enron slam,'' Caminiti said. ``What impressed me the most is how high it went. It was definitely a big hit for the situation. I thought it had a chance to get out with the small porch and the winds blowing out.''

There have been 52 home runs hit out of the Astros' new ballpark, including four in Tuesday night's game. Todd Helton hit two for the Rockies and Jeff Cirillo had another.

``It was a hitter's game, but also a pitcher's game,'' Dierker said. ``It was a case of we kept hitting and they didn't, and our bullpen did a better job than theirs.''

Yorkis Perez (2-1) pitched a perfect sixth inning for the win as the Astros won for just the fourth time in 14 games at Enron Field.

The Rockies were leading 7-1 in the fifth inning when one-out singles by Russ Johnson, Lance Berkman and Roger Cedeno loaded the bases. Biggio had an RBI groundout and Jeff Bagwell walked to load the bases again.

Caminiti hit a 1-1 pitch from Scott Karl over the left-field fence for his eighth homer and sixth career grand slam. Caminiti's 1,000th hit with Houston cut the lead to 7-6.

Biggio completed the comeback in the sixth. The Astros loaded the bases off reliever Julian Tavarez (1-2), who hit Tony Eusebio, and walked Berkman and Cedeno with one out.

Stan Belinda came on to face Biggio, who tripled just out of the reach of center fielder Tom Goodwin. Richard Hidalgo added an RBI single to make it 10-7.

Rockies coach Marcel Lachemann spoke for manager Buddy Bell, slowed by a case of flu.

``We walked nine and hit one and seven of those scored,'' Lachemann said. ``We made a bad pitch to Caminiti for a home run, but the bases on balls are what killed us.

``It wouldn't have been a grand slam if a couple of guys weren't on with walks.''

The benches cleared in the ninth after Bagwell and Scott Service got tangled up at first base, but there was no fight.

``I wish every time I got run over at home plate, I could jump up and down by it,'' said Servais, a catcher. ``I was just trying to get hit in the back by the ball. I think Jeff understands that.''

The Rockies took advantage of early mistakes by Scott Elarton and a sloppy defensive play to take a 5-0 lead after three innings. They increased it to 7-1 before the Astros rallied.

Cirillo extended his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games with a two-run homer for the Rockies in the first inning.

Notes: Karl allowed six runs and five hits in 4 2-3 innings. ... Biggio is within reach of three club records established by first base coach Jose Cruz. Biggio needs 130 at-bats, 41 hits and 11 total bases to take the records. ... Helton is 16-for-27 with six homers and 13 RBIs in May.

 


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