BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : Bonds Loses Burden, Gives It to Braves : NL Playoffs: Talk with Leyland calms him. Then he breaks drought with two hits in 7-1 victory over Atlanta in Game 5.

The burden soared from Barry Bonds’ shoulder like the baseball he had just hit, rising into the night air as Bonds grew more giddy with each step.

By the time he pulled into second base after his run-scoring double off the right-field wall in the first inning Sunday night, Bonds was skipping and talking aloud to himself.

“It’s over,” he said. “It’s over.”

For his Pittsburgh Pirates, it might have just begun.

The first impact game by Bonds in three postseasons, coupled with Bob Walk’s second complete game in two years, allowed the Pirates to stay upright in the National League Championship Series with a 7-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 5.

The Braves still lead the series, 3-2, and could advance to the World Series for the second consecutive season with a victory in Game 6 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium on Tuesday.

In that game the Pirates will use knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield, who is 2-0 against the Braves with a 2.00 earned-run average and two complete games.

And if Sunday is any indication, they will also have Bonds, who had two hits, scored two runs and stole a base and a run from the Braves with a sprinting catch in left-center field.

“I didn’t understand how a guy could play for 162 games and then disappear for seven games every October,” Bonds said. “That’s why when I got to second base, I wanted to tell my family, and tell Pittsburgh, that the jinx was over.”

Bonds had been hitless in his previous 28 postseason at-bats with men on base. He was hitless in 15 postseason at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Bonds had as many runs batted in with his first at-bat as in his previous 56 postseason at-bats combined.

He raised his postseason average more than 20 points, from .143 to .164.

“If you have that much talent, you can’t be suppressed forever,” center fielder Andy Van Slyke said. “The real Barry Bonds’ showed up tonight.”

He arrived just in time to see the real Steve Avery vanish before 52,929 at Three Rivers Stadium.

Bonds’ first hit was one of five in a six-batter stretch against Avery, who had been 3-0 with a 1.59 earned-run average against the Pirates in the postseason.

“We liked our chances tonight with Steve,” said Jeff Blauser, Braves’ shortstop. “But some things, you can’t explain. And you shouldn’t even try.”

Even the Pirates couldn’t explain how Walk, 35, who didn’t know he was starting until two days ago, would pitch like Avery was supposed to pitch.

After working out of a first-inning jam by stranding runners on first and second with Sid Bream’s line-drive out, Walk allowed only three hits, equaling the low-hit game of his 12-year career.

“When we got to the dugout after Walkie had gotten us out of that first inning, we sat there and said, ‘You know, this is not going to be one of those nights,’ ” Bonds said. “We said, ‘Yeah, tonight could be cool.’ ”

But the key point actually occurred early Sunday morning after the Pirates’ 6-4 loss in Game 4.

Bonds, who had struck out twice in the game, including once with a runner on second, met for 90 minutes with Manager Jim Leyland.

They discussed the chances that this would be Bonds’ last year in Pittsburgh because he is a potential free agent. They talked about the impact that Bonds has made on the community, regardless of his October statistics.

“It was like a father-son chat,” Leyland said. “A lot of things were on Barry’s mind. He was worried that these would be his last games in Pittsburgh. He really felt bad. We just opened up about some things.”

Said Bonds: “If these were my last games in Pittsburgh, I didn’t want it to end like this.”

By the time he departed the clubhouse after 2 a.m., Bonds said he was finally at peace.

“Jimmy is like a gift from heaven,” he said.

Bonds received another gift when he batted in the first inning after Jay Bell had given the Pirates a 1-0 lead with a run-scoring single following Gary Redus’ leadoff double.

Bonds stepped to the plate and the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

“It was so great to hear that, to hear how everybody felt,” Bonds said. “I wanted to show them something.”

After Bonds doubled, he scored when Jeff King doubled off the left-center field wall, giving the Pirates a 3-0 lead.

Bonds and Van Slyke then went into a corner of the dugout and began laughing.

“I asked Barry what it was like to score a run,” said Van Slyke, who has scored once in this postseason. “I was like, ‘Wow, I hope I can do that some day.’ ”

Bonds received another gift when he looked into the stands and saw Bobby Bonilla, his best friend and former teammate, sitting behind home plate.

“My wife surprised me by flying him in for this game,” Bonds said. “It was wonderful. But tomorrow I’m going to bill him.”

His running catch of Ron Gant’s line drive with a runner on second base and one out in the fourth inning inspired Walk, but Walk inspired most everyone else.

Before the game he acknowledged that he would be lucky to hold the Braves to three runs in six innings. Despite five walks and two strikeouts, he held them to a triple, a double and an infield single.

“Anytime I try to walk the state of Georgia, I don’t think I have a great game,” Walk said. “It wasn’t my best game, but it was maybe my most important game in a while. Now we have a chance to win this thing, that’s what is really important.”

Could the Braves suddenly be the team in pursuit?

“This series is still in our hands, it is still ours to lose,” protested Blauser, pausing. “I should say, it’s ours to win. I guess that sounds better.”