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Bonds Doesn’t Get Wild After Clincher

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From Associated Press

While the rest of the San Francisco Giants drenched each other with bubbly, beer and water, Barry Bonds stood quietly in a corner with a towel wrapped around his neck.

Although Bonds hit the splash homer that propelled the Giants into the playoffs with a 5-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Saturday at Pacific Bell Park, he is reserving all his excitement for a later date.

“I’ve been here, done it--seven times,” Bonds said. “I want to win the World Series.”

It was Bonds’ fifth-inning homer and pinch-hitter Tom Goodwin’s two-run double in the seventh that sent the Giants on their way to clinching the National League wild card with their seventh consecutive victory.

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Bonds’ 46th homer and the 613th of his career landed in McCovey Cove.

Houston and San Francisco set a major league record for a nine-inning game by using eight pitchers apiece.

The Giants will play NL East champion Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs starting Wednesday at Turner Field.

Arizona 17, Colorado 8--Matt Williams and Steve Finley each homered twice at Phoenix, where the defending World Series champions hit five home runs to clinch the NL West.

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Arizona will face NL Central champion St. Louis in the first round of the playoffs starting Tuesday. The Diamondbacks lead St. Louis by one game in the race for home-field advantage, but the Cardinals hold the tiebreaker if the teams finish with identical records.

St. Louis 3, Milwaukee 1-- Chuck Finley earned the 200th victory of his career and kept the host Cardinals in the hunt for home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The Brewers tied a franchise record with their 55th road loss.

Atlanta 5, New York 2--Chipper Jones reached 100 runs batted in for the seventh consecutive season, John Smoltz got his 55th save, two short of Bobby Thigpen’s major league record, and Vinny Castilla hit a two-run homer at New York.

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Chicago 5, Pittsburgh 4-- Bobby Hill’s single drove in the winning run, capping a two-run, ninth-inning rally at Chicago.

Philadelphia 9, Florida 3-- Placido Polanco and Bobby Abreu hit consecutive doubles in a five-run third inning at Miami.

Montreal 6, Cincinnati 0-- Vladimir Guerrero had three hits but remained one homer shy of a 40-40 season when his third-inning drive landed directly on top of the right-field wall at Montreal before bouncing back on the field for a run-scoring single.

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

Oakland 10, Texas 8--Miguel Tejada homered twice and the A’s rallied from a five-run deficit at Arlington, Texas.

The A’s remained a half-game behind New York in the competition for home-field advantage through the American League playoffs.

New York 4, Baltimore 2-- Bernie Williams had three hits and two RBIs at Baltimore, and the Yankees won their fourth in a row.

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Williams has 204 hits, improving on his team season record by a switch-hitter. He had 202 in 1999.

Cleveland 6, Kansas City 5-- Jim Thome tied the score with his 52nd homer, a three-run drive in the eighth, and Ellis Burks hit a grounder that went for an error and scored the winning run in the 10th at Cleveland.

Toronto 10, Detroit 2--Carlos Delgado hit his 10th home run in September, and the host Blue Jays won their sixth in a row, matching their season high.

Tampa Bay 9, Boston 6--Boston’s Manny Ramirez doubled twice at Fenway Park to improve his league-leading batting average to .349.

Minnesota 3, Chicago 2-- Bobby Kielty hit a two-run homer in the eighth to lead the Twins at Minneapolis.

Eddie Guardado earned his 45th save.

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As expected, Florida outfielder Tim Raines, 43, a seven-time All-Star, announced his retirement. He had 808 stolen bases in 23 seasons, eighth all-time.

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