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Baseball

Bonds in slugging form immediately

MESA, Ariz. -- It took one swing for Barry Bonds to remind Dusty Baker what he'll be missing this season.

Bonds homered on the first pitch he saw in spring training Friday, but Baker won his debut as manager of the Cubs 7-5 over the Giants.

"Same old Barry," Baker said, smiling. "One pitch."

With his former manager watching from the opposite dugout, Bonds connected against Mark Prior in the first, sending a ball over the centerfield fence.

Also, Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa insisted he's thinking about winning, not the possibility of becoming a free agent. He has a four-year, $72-million deal that runs through 2005, but a clause allows him to become a free agent at the end of the season. He said last year he might consider exercising that option if things didn't improve, but the outfielder said he is thrilled with the changes the team made in the offseason, particularly the hiring of Baker.

BREWERS: Pitcher Nick Neugebauer had arthroscopic shoulder surgery in Los Angeles and is expected to miss at least six months.

DODGERS: Kevin Brown threw 75 pitches in a tuneup for his appearance Sunday in an exhibition against Houston in Vero Beach.

GIANTS: Pitcher Livan Hernandez will accept a plea offer to settle charges that he tried to hit an elderly warehouse owner with golf clubs. Hernandez was charged with felony aggravated assault and battery after the Jan. 8 altercation in Miami. Prosecutor Erika Isidron said charges will be dropped if Hernandez attends anger management classes, performs 50 hours of community service and donates $500 to charity.

ORIOLES: Right-hander Scott Erickson will have shoulder surgery and probably will miss the season. He will have a torn labrum repaired.

RANGERS: Righty Rudy Seanez, struck above the left eye socket while taking a throw against Kansas City on Thursday, went back to work. His left eye was swollen and red, but he said he was okay.

REDS: Ken Griffey looked strong and hit his first homer of the spring against Boston. Griffey played 70 games last season and had two stints on the disabled list with a torn right knee tendon and torn right hamstring. "I wasn't far off at the end of the year," said Griffey, who missed time late in the season with hip and quadriceps problems. "They decided to hold me back a bit."

TWINS: Left-hander Eric Milton will have another operation on his left knee. Milton, who had a torn meniscus repaired in August, has had recurring swelling. He probably will have the operation next week.

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