Bonds Makes Splash With Return

Barry Bonds hit his 651st home run leading off the 10th inning as the San Francisco Giants broke their longest losing streak in three years with a 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night at San Francisco.

In his first game back since taking off the weekend series in Montreal to be with his ailing father Bobby, Bonds hit his major league-leading 38th homer on a 2-1 pitch from Ray King (3-2), giving the Giants their first win in seven games.

Bonds raised both arms in celebration and pumped his fist as he started his slow trot and watched his drive sail over the concourse in right and into McCovey Cove.

It was his eighth career game-winning home run.

Jose Cruz Jr. also homered for the Giants, pulling the Giants to within 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh, and Tim Worrell (4-3) pitched two innings to get the win.

Giant pinch-runner Todd Linden scored with two out in the eighth inning on a wild pitch from Trey Hodges, tying the score at 4. Benito Santiago led off with a single. Edgardo Alfonzo sacrificed Linden to second and he advanced to third when Neifi Perez grounded out to first base.

Bonds, who received a standing ovation from the crowd of 42,307 in his first at-bat, went one for three with two walks in his return to the Giants. Bobby Bonds has lung cancer and other ailments.

“It was important for me to be there with my dad,” Bonds said before the game. “It’s also important for me to be here too.”

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Colorado 10, Florida 2 -- Jay Payton had four hits, including a home run, and three RBIs, and the Rockies won at Denver, giving Carl Pavano his first loss since July 9. The Marlins lost catcher Ivan Rodriguez in the fourth inning when he sprained his left wrist after making contact with Payton on a play at the plate. Rodriguez is listed as day to day.

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Arizona 6, Cincinnati 1 -- Junior Spivey, Shea Hillenbrand and Robby Hammock homered, and Brandon Webb struck out a career-high 11 in seven strong innings as the Diamondbacks won at Phoenix to move within 3 1/2 games of Philadelphia in the wild-card race.

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Milwaukee 6, Philadelphia 4 -- Milwaukee’s Mike DeJean worked out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the top of the eighth, and pinch-hitter Mark Smith hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the bottom half to help the Brewers win at Milwaukee.

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St. Louis 13, Pittsburgh 5 -- Scott Rolen hit a go-ahead, three-run double, a two-run single in a 10-run eighth inning, and drove in a career-high six runs to lead the Cardinals at St. Louis.

Albert Pujols, who leads the major leagues with a .371 average and has a 30-game hitting streak, started serving a two-game suspension for punching Gary Bennett of the San Diego Padres on July 13.

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Houston 12, Chicago 8 -- Jeff Kent went three for five with a homer and a double and six RBIs, missing his career high by one RBI to help the Astros win at Houston. With the win, Houston remained a game ahead of St. Louis in the NL Central.

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San Diego 3, New York 2 -- Phil Nevin hit a two-run homer with one out in the eighth inning to lift the Padres at San Diego.