Hitless Bonds Knows the Drill

Here’s how Sunday went for the San Francisco Giants: They lost, 5-4, to the San Diego Padres, Barry Bonds grounded out on the one and only pitch he got to hit, then he was drilled in the right elbow by relief pitcher Jose Nunez.

“We’ll probably need an armored car to get us out of here if he broke anything,” Padre Manager Bruce Bochy said.

Bonds, who wears a piece of body armor to protect his right arm, was unhurt, which is not something you can say about the Giants’ playoff chances. They wasted a chance to pick up a game on the Arizona Diamondbacks, who lost to the Dodgers but still lead the Giants by two games in the National League West with a week to go.

It was a game of missed chances by the Giants before they were retired in order in the ninth by Trevor Hoffman, who earned his 42nd save. The game ended with Bonds standing in the on-deck circle.

Bonds was hitless in one official at-bat, but he walked twice on a total of eight pitches and was hit by Nunez on the second pitch to him with one out in the seventh.

In his four trips to the plate, Bonds swung his bat once, grounding out sharply to second base on a breaking ball thrown by Padre starter Brian Tollberg in the third.

Bubba Trammell’s third hit, a home run off Tim Worrell, broke a 4-4 tie in the seventh and the Padres beat the Giants for only the fifth time in 19 games. Benito Santiago homered for the Giants, who lost for the second time in their last seven games.

Bochy said his pitchers were only trying to pitch to Bonds carefully, not attempting to deny him any pitches to hit or simply walk him. He said Tollberg, who got the win, probably had a couple of strikes that weren’t called in Bonds’ first trip to the plate.

“It’s obvious he’s the guy we don’t want to beat us,” Bochy said. “It’s not like we’re trying to beat Barry Bonds. We’re trying to get through their lineup and win a game.”

With six games remaining--three at Houston and three at Pacific Bell Park against the Dodgers--Bonds has 69 home runs, one short of Mark McGwire’s record. Bochy said once again that he expects Bonds to pass McGwire.

“He’s got six games and the way he’s been swinging the bat ... he’s going to get some pitches to hit,” Bochy said. “How many, I don’t know. But I do think he’ll do it.”

The Padres’ Tony Gwynn said Bonds simply must wait for the right pitch to hit. Like Bochy, Gwynn expects Bonds to succeed.

“When it gets down to it, you know you might not get anything [to hit], so you wait it out,” Gwynn said. “He’ll get it. I’m just glad we’re not going to be the team. We can watch it and be fans, like everybody else.”