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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Rockies Take Mariners Deep Gallaraga’s Monster Hr Sparks 9-5 Win Before Record Coors Field Crowd

Associated Press

On an electrifying night, Andres Galarraga provided the biggest spark.

Galarraga launched the longest home run in Coors Field history before its largest crowd, leading the Colorado Rockies over the Seattle Mariners 9-5 Thursday night.

The crowd of 50,269, including complimentary tickets, was the biggest in the park’s three seasons, eclipsing the 50,247 fans who saw Los Angeles on July 14.

In the much-anticipated showdown between the top two homer-hitting teams in the majors, both clubs connected twice - but Colorado’s made more impact, and none more so than Galarraga’s.

Galarraga’s 487-footer onto the concourse in deep left-center in the sixth inning exceeded the 483-foot homer by St. Louis’ Ray Lankford at Coors on May 19, 1996. Along with his 35th homer, a two-run shot, Galarraga also had an RBI double.

“As soon as I hit it, I knew it was going pretty far,” Galarraga said. “But I never thought it would be the longest home run at Coors Field.”

It was the second-longest homer by a Rocky. Galarraga hit a 529-footer off Kevin Brown on May 31 in Miami.

Jeff Reed added a three-run shot to help the Rockies post their third straight victory.

Roberto Kelly and Edgar Martinez hit home runs for the M’s in the eighth. Griffey, the leading home run hitter in the majors with 43, went 0 for 3 - but he was loudly cheered every time he came to the plate.

Pedro Astacio (8-9), making his second start for the Rockies after being traded by Los Angeles on Aug. 17, struck out nine - a season high for a Colorado pitcher.

Astacio held the Mariners to two runs and four hits through seven innings, but tired in the eighth. Seattle erupted for three runs in that inning, including solo homers by Kelly and Martinez, to chase Astacio.

“He ran his fastball inside and had a great off-speed pitch that kept them off-balance,” Baylor said of Astacio. “The No. 1 thing is, he saved our bullpen.”

Three errors doomed the Mariners.

“Defensively, we played poorly,” Seattle manager Lou Piniella said. “The errors let in a lot of runs. (Joey) Cora’s error was on a tailor-made double play. You can’t throw it around in this ballpark. You can give up runs in a big hurry here.”

Seattle went ahead 2-0 in the second. Alex Rodriguez led off with a walk, Jay Buhner singled and both runners advanced on a groundout. With two outs, pitcher Omar Olivares hit a sharp single between third and short - the first RBIs ever by a M’s pitcher.

Colorado took the lead in its half on Reed’s three-run homer off Olivares (6-9). Galarraga had singled and Vinny Castilla reached when the Mariners botched a double-play opportunity as second baseman Cora dropped a relay.