In The Box

PADRES 8, ASTROS 6
July 14

Need more proof that home runs are too easy to come by at Houston's year-old Enron Field? With two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth, San Diego shortstop Damian Jackson—whose resemblance to sluggers Reggie and Bo Jackson is limited to his surname—hacked at a fastball from Houston starter Wade Miller. Jackson's bat shattered as he made contact, the barrel flying toward third base. The ball, meanwhile, floated down Enron's comically short leftfield line and cleared the 19-foot-high wall above the 315-foot sign, giving Jackson a grand slam and the Padres a five-run lead.

"When I saw the bat fly by, I didn't think he'd hit it that good," Miller said. "That pretty much tells you about leftfield here." It was a cheapie, but Miller has only himself to blame. He had prolonged the inning by committing one of pitching's cardinal sins: He walked the hitter before Jackson, pitcher Kevin Jarvis, after getting ahead 0 and 2 in the count.