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Bonds hits No. 69 in win

Homer into McCovey Cove leaves Giant 1 shy of record with 7 games left.

©Associated Press

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 30, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO -- The tears had turned to smiles, but the story was the same -- another home run by Barry Bonds, moving him within one of the record Mark McGwire set three seasons ago.

Bonds led off the sixth inning with his 69th homer, splashing a shot estimated at 437 feet into San Francisco Bay and leading the Giants to a 3-1 win Saturday against the Padres.

Unlike Friday night, when he wept after hitting No. 68 while mourning the death of a friend, Bonds joked with teammates, then smiled broadly later as fans saluted him in leftfield.

"Yesterday, I did something for a friend, and I was able to let it go after that," Bonds said. "Today, go back to work, try to keep winning."

The solo shot was the 563rd homer of Bonds' career, tying Reggie Jackson for seventh on the career list. Bonds has five homers in his past six games.

Also, San Diego's Rickey Henderson had one hit to move within three of 3,000 for his career. He did not score a run, leaving him at 2,244 for his career, one short of Ty Cobb's all-time record.

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