Bonds Helps Giants Take Over Wild Card

Barry Bonds went four for four and Jeff Kent hit his career-best 34th homer as the San Francisco Giants routed the San Diego Padres, 10-3, Friday night at San Diego to regain the National League wild-card lead.

The Giants moved one game ahead of the Dodgers, who lost at Colorado. Russ Ortiz pitched into the eighth inning and went three for four with three runs scored and a run batted in.

Bonds, who at 38 is trying to become the oldest first-time batting champion, reached base in all 10 plate appearances in the two-game series, and has reached 12 consecutive times overall.

He raised his major league-leading average to .372, and drove in three runs. Bonds walked a career-high five times in Thursday night’s 3-2, 10-inning loss.

Bonds also reached in his last two plate appearances of a 7-3 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday in San Francisco. He and John Olerud share the NL record for consecutive times reaching base, at 15, both accomplished in 1998.

Rich Aurilia tied his career high for hits by going four for five.

Ortiz (12-10) held the Padres to three runs and seven hits over 7 2/3 innings to win his fourth consecutive start. He struck out four and walked three.

Kent’s homer was the 250th of his career.

St. Louis 3, Houston 2--Edgar Renteria hit an RBI single in the 10th inning at Houston as the Cardinals extended their lead in the NL Central.

Renteria had three hits and two RBIs for St. Louis, which leads second-place Houston by 6 1/2 games.

Albert Pujols led off the 10th against Tom Gordon (1-3) with a double. Pinch-runner Eli Marrero went to third on a throwing error by Gordon, who turned and made a pickoff throw to second with no one covering the bag. Marrero scored on Renteria’s ground single to left.

Milwaukee 8, Arizona 4--Jim Rushford hit his first big league home run and Glendon Rusch pitched a seven-hitter at Milwaukee as the Brewers ended a four-game losing streak.

Rusch (10-13) won his fourth in a row, the longest streak of his career. He is the first Milwaukee pitcher to reach double-digit victories this season.

Florida 13, Atlanta 3--Greg Maddux struggled through the worst first inning of his career, giving up six runs, and the Marlins totaled 16 hits and three home runs to win at Miami.

Maddux (13-6) left after two innings trailing, 7-0. His earned-run average, the lowest in the NL entering the game, rose from to 2.42 to 2.74.

Montreal 11, New York 8--Vladimir Guerrero hit his 37th homer and drove in three runs at Montreal, reaching 100 RBIs for the fifth consecutive season.

The Mets made a season-high six errors--including three by 10-time Gold Glove second baseman Roberto Alomar--and gave up six unearned runs. The Mets lead the majors with 130 errors.

Chicago 7, Cincinnati 6--Fred McGriff got his 1,500th career RBI with a two-run homer, and Moises Alou hit a three-run shot as the Cubs won at Cincinnati.

Pittsburgh 5, Philadelphia 3--Adam Hyzdu homered, Jack Wilson drove in two runs and the Pirates used some aggressive baserunning to score twice in the seventh inning to win at Pittsburgh.