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Baseball

Bonds' cove blast caps Giants win

By Associated Press
Published September 19, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds carefully marked almost every piece of his equipment with No.705 and the date, boxed them up and sealed the top with athletic tape.

His bat and hat, his gloves, his shoes, even his black-and-orange wristbands; all got authenticated and put away for safekeeping in one of the slugger's many storage units.

Bonds splashed a home run into McCovey Cove for the first time this season Sunday. His 705th career homer led off the eighth inning, causing a commotion as soon as it reached the water and kayakers raced to retrieve the ball.

Bonds' homer followed a tiebreaking drive by Mike Matheny in the sixth and former Devil Ray Randy Winn's third homer in as many days, leading the Giants past the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3.

Matheny's homer off Franquelis Osoria helped the Giants win their third straight after losing the opener and take the season series from Los Angeles 10-9. San Francisco trails the first-place Padres by 51/2 in the West, and the Dodgers dropped 71/2 back.

"It's nice to win," Bonds said. "I still feel like I'm in the spring training mode. Sometimes I feel really good. Sometimes I feel off balance. Those are things you go through in spring training. I'm trying to put it together in such a short window of time."

Saving all his stuff from each home run has been Bonds' routine since before he hit his 500th in 2001.

Bonds said he won't allow himself to think about the 10 home runs he needs to pass Babe Ruth (714), second on the career list to Hank Aaron (755).

"No, no. Right now we're trying to chase a team that's in front of us," Bonds said. "We've got to catch them."

MARLINS 14, PHILLIES 6: Miguel Cabrera drove in four, Josh Beckett pitched six innings and host Florida bounced back from its most dismal loss of the season.

Beckett won his third start in a row, allowing five hits and before leaving with a 9-2 lead. The bullpen struggled, but there was no repeat of Saturday's collapse when the Marlins blew a 2-0 lead for Dontrelle Willis and committed four errors in the ninth as Philadelphia scored 10.

The Marlins averted a series sweep and snapped a four-game losing streak that matched their longest of the season.

PADRES 2, NATIONALS 1: Miguel Olivo raced home on an error in the ninth, and West-leading San Diego rallied to climb back to .500. The host Padres took two of three from Washington, which fell 41/2 behind Houston in the wild-card race. San Diego maintained a 51/2-game lead over the Giants and reduced its magic number for clinching the division to nine.

ASTROS 6, BREWERS 1: Wandy Rodriguez pitched a career-high 71/3 innings and Lance Berkman put Houston ahead to stay with a two-run first-inning double as the host Astros won their fifth straight. Eric Bruntlett went 3-for-3 with four runs and two stolen bases as Houston completed a three-game sweep.

METS 4, BRAVES 1: Tom Glavine pitched a six-hitter to beat his former team and Cliff Floyd hit his career-high 32nd homer for host New York. The Mets won two of three, but Atlanta won the season series 13-6, its fifth straight season with double-digit victories against New York.

CUBS 7, CARDINALS 4: Carlos Zambrano won his sixth straight decision, allowing 10 hits in a complete game to pitch host Chicago past Chris Carpenter in a testy game. The Cardinals pitcher and Cubs manager Dusty Baker yelled at each other near the Chicago dugout in the second inning, though it wasn't clear why.

PIRATES 9, REDS 7: Freddy Sanchez tied the score with a triple and scored on Jack Wilson's single as host Pittsburgh rallied for three runs in the eighth.

ROCKIES 7, D'BACKS 1: Jeff Francis faced the minimum 18 batters through six scoreless innings, and Garrett Atkins drove in three for visiting Colorado.

[Last modified September 19, 2005, 01:09:09]


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