Dodgers Get One-Upped

San Francisco Giant Manager Dusty Baker is fond of using sports metaphors, and his sport of choice Friday in discussing mercurial outfielder Barry Bonds was horse racing.

“It’s like a thoroughbred horse. How do you handle a thoroughbred horse?” Baker said. “Sometimes they let you ride them, sometimes they buck you off.

“One thing about thoroughbred horses is they don’t like running behind anybody.”

Bonds, on a tear since getting some batting tips from his father, Bobby, last week, helped the Giants pull ahead of the Dodgers by a neck Friday as the National League West race moves into the homestretch.

Bonds’ third home run in three games, a two-run blast to deep center in the sixth inning, propelled the Giants to a 7-4 victory over the San Diego Padres Friday at Qualcomm Stadium and gave them a one-game lead over the Dodgers atop the division.

The victory, coupled with the Dodgers’ 6-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies, gave the Giants sole possession of first place for the first time in a week. The Giants and Dodgers each have eight games left.

“He’s coming through every day,” Baker said of Bonds, “and that’s what we need and that’s what he wants.”

With the many Giant fans in the crowd of 33,024 cheering each Rocky run posted on the right field scoreboard, Bonds took matters into his own hands. After Bill Mueller led off the sixth inning with a single, Bonds worked the count to 1-and-2 against Joey Hamilton (10-7). On the next pitch, Hamilton--whose fastball was clocked as fast as 95 mph--threw inside and almost hit Bonds on the knee. Bonds skipped out of the way to avoid being hit, but his face remained impassive.

After taking a 94-mph fastball for a ball, Bonds smacked the next pitch 444 feet into the center-field seats for his 36th home run. He had been a one-man wrecking crew against the Dodgers, going three for six with two home runs, a triple and five RBIs.

To Bonds, Friday’s home run answered a prayer: After drawing a two-out walk in the first, he froze and didn’t try to score when J.T. Snow lined a double off the top of the wall in left. “My whole thought process was, ‘I’ve got to make up at least two because I cost us one,’ ” he said. “That could have been a real crucial situation in the game. That could have turned it around.”

Bonds’ own turnaround after a 4-for-22 slump can be traced to an informal coaching session with his father last week. Using a broom stick instead of a bat, the elder Bonds showed his son why he was popping up pitches he should have crushed. To Baker, Barry Bonds’ swing appears “more level,” but he figured the slump wouldn’t last long.

“I’ve always said water seeks its own level,” Baker said.

The Giants’ level is the top, thanks to Bonds’ home run, a two-run insurance homer by Darryl Hamilton in the eighth, and a three-game winning streak. Besides Bonds’ clutch hitting, Baker praised him for cautioning his teammates against experiencing an emotional letdown after the super-charged atmosphere of their two-game sweep of the Dodgers. Bonds downplayed his role as cheerleader. “It wasn’t anything really big,” he said. “It wasn’t 10 seconds. I said, ‘Let’s just keep the intensity level.’ ”

They heeded his advice, scoring three more runs in the sixth thanks in part to second baseman Quilvio Veras dropping a throw at second that might have nabbed Stan Javier stealing. Mark Lewis had an RBI single and pitcher Danny Darwin (1-2) blooped a double into center for two more. “I went to my emergency stroke,” he joked.

Perhaps exhausted by his baserunning exploits, Darwin couldn’t get anyone out in the bottom of the inning. He was pulled after giving up back-to-back doubles to Steve Finley and Tony Gwynn and a single to Ken Caminiti, but Snow’s fielding prowess spared him any more damage. Snow speared a line drive hit by Wally Joyner and then dived to tag Caminiti and double him off first. Greg Vaughn ended the inning with a fly to center.

Gwynn’s double was his 46th, a club record. He doubled again in the Padres’ two-run flurry in the eighth inning and singled in the ninth, lifting his batting average to .367. That’s nearly incredible, considering he said earlier this week that he has been hampered by a blood clot in his right leg. Although he said the clot poses no imminent danger, he’s taking anti-inflammatory medication and said he’s “really struggling.”

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NEXT SERIES FOR DODGERS

WHO: San Diego Padres

WHERE: Dodger Stadium

WHEN: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.