Walker Hits Longest Coors Field Homer

Larry Walker hit his National League-leading 39th and 40th home runs, including a 493-foot shot that was the longest in Coors Field history, as the Colorado Rockies defeated Oakland, 10-4, for their sixth consecutive win.

“A home run is a home run and that’s the bottom line,” Walker said. “I’ll open the paper tomorrow and it will say home run. So I’ll take that one that I hit off the top of the fence as well.”

Walker drove in four runs and had three hits, raising his batting average to .378. He homered and hit a run-scoring single during a seven-run fifth inning.

“Walker got every bit of that one,” Colorado Manager Don Baylor said. “He made an adjustment right after he swung at a ball over his head and came back into his zone.”

Matt Stairs homered twice for the Athletics, who lost their fourth in a row.

Walker hit a two-run homer in the third inning, then connected during in the fifth for the longest drive in the ballpark’s three-year history. The 493-footer was six feet longer than the shot Andres Galarraga hit Friday against Seattle.

“When the ball left the bat, I knew it was farther,” Galarraga said. “I thought at first it had to be over 500 feet.”

Walker has seven multi-homer games this season.

“Walker hit a pretty good pitch out for his first home run, but I gave him a fastball right down the middle in the fifth and he crushed it,” said Oakland starter Mike Oquist (2-5).

Quinton McCracken and Walt Weiss each drove in two runs for the Rockies. Reliever Darren Holmes (6-2) pitched three innings for the win.

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