NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Bonds’ Single Off Old Nemesis Lifts Giants to an 8-6 Victory

Barry Bonds looked like anything but a .193 hitter against John Franco when he faced the New York Mets’ relief ace Sunday at Shea Stadium.

Bonds hit a two-out, two-run single off his nemesis with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, leading the San Francisco Giants to an 8-6 victory.

“Franco has always had success going right at you with his fastball,” Bonds said. “Obviously, in that kind of a situation, I enjoyed it. Every player wants that kind of an opportunity.”

Bonds drove in three runs on his 30th birthday. He keyed a three-run rally in the eighth inning, capped by Matt Williams’ run-scoring single.

The Giants are 12-2 since the arrival of Darryl Strawberry, who had a hit and drove in a run. Bonds has 18 runs batted in since Strawberry joined the Giants.

The victory pulled San Francisco to within 1 1/2 games of the West Division-leading Dodgers, who open a three-game series tonight at Candlestick Park. It will be the first time Strawberry has faced the Dodgers since they released him earlier this season.

“No, there are no extra juices,” Strawberry said of the upcoming series. “I’m now playing for the Giants and I do my job for the Giants.

“I’m looking forward to the series after this long road trip and I’m no more concerned that it’s the Dodgers than if it were any other team.”

Bonds, who had two hits, is batting .455 (20 for 44) and has eight homers and 17 RBIs on the trip.

In the eighth, the bases were loaded when Franco was brought in to face him.

“Franco has always given Barry trouble,” Giant Manager Dusty Baker said. “He was only hitting .193 against him, but left-handed batters always seem to do well against him.

“Barry gave himself and us a present. It was his 30th birthday and I’m sure he’s enjoying it.”

Houston 13, Pittsburgh 1--Jeff Bagwell homered twice and drove in five runs and Craig Biggio hit a grand slam to lead the Astros at Houston.

Houston won three of the four games in the series, outscoring the Pirates, 38-11. The Astros pulled to within one game of the Central Division-leading Cincinnati Reds, and begin a three-game series at Cincinnati tonight.

Bagwell leads the majors with 98 RBIs. He has hit 32 home runs. His 20 homers this season at the Astrodome broke the team record of 18 set by Lee May in 1974. He had a two-run single in the third inning, then hit a solo homer in the sixth and a two-run homer in the seventh.

Chicago 3, Cincinnati 0--Fill-in starter Jim Bullinger and Randy Myers combined on a five-hitter at Chicago and Mark Grace hit two doubles and drove in a run.

Bullinger (5-2) pitched in place of Steve Trachsel, who is bothered by a blister. Bullinger pitched eight innings, giving up five hits. Myers pitched the ninth for his 20th save.

Philadelphia 5, San Diego 3--Danny Jackson pitched seven innings at Philadelphia and won his 13th game--his highest victory total in six years.

Jackson (13-4), who yielded five hits and two runs, struck out seven and walked none. The last time he won 13 or more games was 1988, when he was 23-8 for Cincinnati.

Doug Jones pitched 1 1/3 innings for his league-leading 26th save.

Florida 6, Colorado 4--Gary Sheffield had five hits, including a two-run homer in the ninth inning, to give the Marlins the victory before 68,045 at Denver.

Chuck Carr led off the ninth with a walk. Sheffield, who had four singles in his previous at-bats, followed with his 22nd homer.

Atlanta 8, St. Louis 5--Charlie O’Brien and Jose Oliva hit three-run homers to lead the Braves at St. Louis.

Tom Glavine (12-8) won for the fourth time in his last five starts, although he gave up five runs and 12 hits in 7 1/3 innings.

O’Brien’s homer, his seventh, capped a four-run rally in the fourth inning against Bob Tewksbury (10-10) and gave Atlanta the lead for good.