NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Bonds Finally Gets Untracked in Pittsburgh

Barry Bonds broke out of his Pittsburgh slump, going four for five, including two home runs, to lift the San Francisco Giants to a 9-6 victory over the Pirates Wednesday.

“Man, I’d forgotten how well the ball carries here in August,” said Bonds, who signed as a free agent with the Giants after leading the Pirates to three straight division titles.

Bonds had gone 0 for 12 in Pittsburgh, and had .138 average against them before Wednesday. Bonds started with a double off Zane Smith (3-5) to key a three-run first inning and singled in the third.

In the fifth, he followed Robby Thompson’s 11th homer with his 37th on the very next pitch from reliever Mark Petkovsek.

Finally, he added a two-run homer off Brian Shouse in the ninth.

It was Bonds’ fifth two-homer game this season. His 38 home runs are four more than his previous career high.

“I was thinking about hitting for the cycle, because I’ve never done it,” he said. “I thought I might have a chance for a triple, but (the ball) carried too much. I was thinking, ‘Damn, it went over the fence.’ ”

Bonds said he had problems hitting in Pittsburgh not because he was trying too hard, but because he was too relaxed.

“That’s my old team over there and my old manager,” he said, “and I want them to do well--except against us. I was too mellow, too relaxed. I had to get back to the way I play the game, get back my old intensity.”

The Giants had plenty of offense to support Trevor Wilson’s seven-hit pitching over six innings, his second straight victory since coming off the disabled list.

Mark Carreon went two for five with three RBIs, including a two-run double in the first. Thompson and Todd Benzinger also had two hits, and even Wilson contributed an RBI single.

Philadelphia 7, Colorado 6-- John Kruk hit two solo homers and Kevin Stocker drove in three runs for the Phillies at Denver.

The Phillies are 7-1 against the Rockies and unbeaten in five games at Mile High Stadium.

Bobby Thigpen (2-0), who relieved starter Tommy Greene in the sixth, was the winner, allowing one hit over two innings. Mitch Williams pitched the ninth for his 34th save.

Bruce Ruffin (4-5), who came on in the seventh, allowed four hits and two runs in 1 2/3 innings to take the loss.

The Rockies took a 6-5 lead in the fifth on an RBI-double by Chris Jones and a groundout by Charlie Hayes following a triple by Dante Bichette.

Kruk tied it in the seventh with his second homer of the game, and the Phillies took the lead when Darren Daulton singled, advanced on an error by Ruffin and a groundout, and scored on a single by Stocker.

Chicago 2, Montreal 0--Greg Hibbard allowed four hits over 8 1/3 innings and Sammy Sosa hit his 29th homer, leading the Cubs at Chicago.

Hibbard (10-9), who walked one and struck out three, allowed a one-out single to Randy Ready in the ninth inning. He was replaced by Randy Myers, the Cubs’ closer, who walked Marquis Grissom and Larry Walker.

Jose Bautista, replacing Myers, then struck out Moises Alou and got Frank Bolick to fly out. The save was Bautista’s first in the major leagues and the first by a Cub reliever other than Myers this season.

Sosa homered in the fourth inning off loser Ken Hill (7-4).

The Cubs scored another run in the fifth when Dwight Smith walked, went to second on an infield out and scored on Derrick May’s two-out single.

Hibbard did not allow a hit until Grissom beat out an infield chopper to third with one out in the fourth.

New York 12, Cincinnati 2--Frank Tanana beat the Reds for the third time this season by pitching eight strong innings and tripling with the bases loaded at Cincinnati.

Tanana’s triple, the first of his career, highlighted a five-run sixth that sent the Reds to their eighth loss in nine games. The Mets also got homers from Jeromy Burnitz and Todd Hundley.

The Reds could manage only five hits off the 40-year-old left-hander, who struck out two and didn’t a walk batter.

Jeff Branson and Willie Greene homered on consecutive pitches in the third for the only runs off Tanana (6-12), who hadn’t won a game in a month.

Houston 2, Florida 1--Chris James’ pinch-hit single in the eighth inning drove in Luis Gonzalez with the winning run at Houston. The hit gave the Astros their fifth victory in their last seven games.

Greg Swindell (9-9) snapped a six-game losing streak at the Astrodome to record the victory. He went eight innings, allowing one run on six hits. He struck out seven, to equal his season high, and walked none.

Joe Klink (0-2) took the loss, facing two batters in the eighth and giving up one run on two hits.

St. Louis 4, San Diego 0--Donovan Osborne allowed two hits over seven innings and Greg Jefferies had three hits and drove in a run for the Cardinals at St. Louis.

Osborne (10-6) struck out five and walked one as he won for the first time in a month. Rob Murphy pitched the last two innings to gain his first save.

Jefferies extended his hitting streak to 15 games.