Gilt Bonds Helps Giants Cash In, 8-7 : Dodgers: He hits two three-run homers as San Francisco overcomes a 4-0 deficit to stay tied with Braves.

They say they are playing each game as if it’s the biggest game of the year, and that’s good, because for the San Francisco Giants every game is. So when the Giants came out slipping and colliding the first couple of innings, and even John Burkett was getting pounded by the Dodgers, the Dodger Stadium crowd of 51,860 had to wonder what game this team was playing.

But once the bat was put back in the hands of Barry Bonds--which is a move only Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda can explain--Bonds provided the answer. Bonds hit two three-run homers and had a run-scoring double in the Giants’ 8-7 victory.

It was all a spectacular turn for the Giants, who took the field knowing that the Atlanta Braves had defeated the Colorado Rockies, which meant the Giants needed to win to remain tied for first place in the National League West with two games to play. And clearly the Giants’ were helped by Lasorda, who brought in left-hander Omar Daal to pitch to the left-handed Bonds in the fifth inning with none out, runners on second and third and first base open. Dave Martinez, who was batting .238, was on deck.

Bonds sent a 2-and-0 pitch by Daal over the right field wall in the fifth inning to give the Giants a 7-4 lead. He had sent a 2-and-1 pitch by Ramon Martinez (10-12) over the left-center field wall in the third inning to tie the score at 4-4. It was Bonds’ 45th and 46th home runs this season, giving him 122 runs batted in, both a career high, and the seventh time this season that he has hit two home runs in a game.

But Bonds might not have needed Lasorda’s help. Since driving in only one run over 14 games during a recent slump, he is batting .367 with six home runs and 20 RBI in the 14 games since. And it was his run-scoring double--on a 3-and-0 pitch by left-hander Steve Wilson--off the center field wall in seventh inning that had the crowd salaaming Bonds, as they did Mark Whiten of the St. Louis Cardinals earlier this season after he hit four home runs.

But during the first couple of innings, the team that leads the league in fielding looked more like the Keystone Kops. They slipped, collided, booted a ball and looked horrible. Even Burkett, the winningest pitcher in the league with 22, who has owned the Dodgers and about every other team this season, looked less than ordinary. Burkett and ordinary are two words not normally found in the same sentence.

After the Giants loaded the bases with two out in the first inning and didn’t score, the Dodgers came back to score three runs on an error and four consecutive hits. Burkett had only given up five runs in his last three consecutive victories. He had held the Dodgers to four earned runs and 10 hits in three starts this season. And suddenly the Dodgers were pounding him. The Dodgers scored all three runs--two earned--before Burkett got the first out.

It started when shortstop Royce Clayton botched a leadoff grounder by Brett Butler. With Jose Offerman at bat and the hit and run on, Butler broke for second and Clayton broke to cover second base. But Offerman grounded behind Clayton, who slipped trying to get back to the ball, and Butler was safe on third. Dave Hansen sliced a line drive to left field to score Butler. Mike Piazza and Eric Karros followed with consecutive shots up the middle, each scoring another run. For Piazza, it marked his 107th run batted in, setting a new single season franchise rookie record. Del Bissonette had 106 in 1928.

The Giants continued to help the Dodgers in the second inning when, with two outs, Burkett walked Offerman. Hansen followed with a high fly ball off the end of his bat that dropped between Willie McGee and Steve Scarsone, who collided in right field, sending McGee out of the game with a rib injury. By the time Darren Lewis picked up the ball to throw it in, Offerman was scoring standing up.

The Dodgers had runners on first and second in the eighth inning with Offerman, the tying run, at the plate. But Rod Beck, the Giants’ fourth pitcher, came in and struck Offerman out. Karros hit a two-run homer against Beck in the ninth.