On the Other Hand, Bonds a Good Fielder

Barry Bonds helped the San Francisco Giants win their fifth consecutive game with his glove, not his bat.

Bonds made a spectacular sliding catch with the bases loaded, and scored the go-ahead run on J.T. Snow’s sixth-inning single as the San Francisco Giants remained undefeated, defeating the San Diego Padres, 4-1, Saturday at San Francisco.

“He’s got some Gold Gloves,” Giant Manager Dusty Baker said. “We really aren’t surprised by anything he does, either defensively or with the bat.”

Bonds, who hit a record 73 home runs last season, was homerless after hitting five in the first four games to tie Lou Brock’s pace in 1967. Larry Walker hit six home runs in the first five games in 1997.

Aaron Fultz (1-0) earned the victory in relief for the Giants, who remain the only undefeated team in the majors. Robb Nen earned his second save.

San Francisco starter Kurt Ainsworth, an Olympic gold medalist making his first career start, got into trouble in the third, loading the bases with none out for Ryan Klesko, returning from a season-opening suspension.

Klesko popped up to shallow left, where Bonds sprinted before making a dazzling sliding catch. Without missing a beat, Bonds jumped up and hurled the ball to catcher Benito Santiago in time to catch Padre starter Kevin Jarvis coming in from third.

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New York 11, Atlanta 2--New York scored nine runs in the ninth inning--eight off Atlanta closer John Smoltz (0-1)--to defeat the Braves at Atlanta.

The Mets won at Turner Field for the second night in a row despite losing All-Star catcher Mike Piazza because of a bruised knee in the sixth inning. Piazza’s replacement, Vance Wilson, hit a two-run double off Smoltz in the ninth.

Roger Cedeno drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth and Rey Ordonez had a three-run double in the inning.

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Arizona 6, Milwaukee 3--Randy Johnson defeated the Brewers for the 13th consecutive time, striking out 12 in seven innings for the Diamondbacks at Milwaukee.

Johnson (2-0), who is undefeated in his last 16 starts against Milwaukee, gave up one run, five hits and three walks. He improved to 16-4 against the Brewers, who last defeated him on Aug. 5, 1992, at old County Stadium.

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St. Louis 8, Houston 4--Albert Pujols hit his first homer of the season and drove in three runs to lead the Cardinals for the second game in a row at Houston.

Matt Morris (2-0) gave up two unearned runs in six innings as he ended a two-game losing streak to the Astros. He gave up six hits and two walks and struck out seven.

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Pittsburgh 6, Chicago 1--Josh Fogg pitched seven shutout innings and gave up only five hits at Chicago in his first major league start and the Pirates rolled to their fourth victory in five games.

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Montreal 5, Cincinnati 2--Tomo Ohka gave up only a solo homer in five innings and the Expos scored four runs on only one hit in the sixth inning to win at Cincinnati.

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Florida 7, Philadelphia 3--Eric Owens hit a tiebreaking RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning and Alex Gonzalez had a three-run homer in the ninth to lead the Marlins at Philadelphia.