Bonds Has Enough Left to Help Giants Beat Mets

Barry Bonds earned the appreciation of his manager by staying in the lineup. He earned the appreciation of his teammates too, for keeping the San Francisco Giants in playoff contention.

Bonds hit a two-run homer in the first inning to support a strong effort by Kirk Rueter and help the Giants beat the New York Mets, 3-1, Sunday at San Francisco.

There was some question whether Bonds would get the day off after playing all 12 innings of Saturday’s four-hour marathon won by the Mets, 11-9.

“You just have to play,” Bonds said after hitting his 693rd career homer and 35th of the season to highlight a three-run first inning.

“This is the time you have to step it up and play regardless of how you feel. Being in the race helps. There’s a little over a month left, and you better dig deep.”

Giant Manager Felipe Alou said Bonds had “tired legs” but never asked out of the lineup.

“I forgot Barry played all 12 innings and got on base six times,” Alou said. “I’m glad I didn’t think about it or I might not have played him. He doesn’t feel that great, but I appreciated him staying in the lineup.”

The Giants moved to within 4 1/2 games of the first-place Dodgers in the West. They also remained on top of the wild-card race by winning for the ninth time in 11 games.

Ray Durham led off the first with a home run. He has 32 leadoff homers to put him one behind Hall of Famer Paul Molitor for sixth place on the career list.

Bonds, who reached base seven consecutive times during the series, is 21 homers shy of tying Babe Ruth for second on baseball’s career list.

Rueter (7-9) gave up five hits in seven innings, his longest outing since May 7. Dustin Hermanson recorded the last four outs for his fifth save in six tries.

St. Louis 11, Pittsburgh 4 -- Edgar Renteria capped a 13-pitch at-bat in the first inning at St. Louis with a three-run homer and matched his career high with five runs batted in.

Larry Walker hit a grand slam, the seventh of his career and second in five days, in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach for the Cardinals, who have the majors’ best record at 82-42.

After a 6-2 homestand, the Cardinals are 40 games above .500 for the first time since the last game of their pennant-winning season in 1985, when they finished 101-61.

Florida 8, San Diego 3 -- Carl Pavano (14-5) pitched six solid innings, hit a home run and drove in two runs to lead the Marlins at San Diego.

Pavano yielded two runs -- one earned -- and five hits. Guillermo Mota worked 2 2/3 hitless innings for his third save.

Pavano homered leading off the second inning, sending a 413-foot shot against Sterling Hitchcock (0-3) into the upper deck in left field for a 2-1 lead.

Philadelphia 9, Milwaukee 6 -- Jason Michaels’ run-scoring single broke a tie, and the Phillies scored five times in the 10th inning to complete their first three-game sweep at Milwaukee. The Phillies had entered the series with a seven-game losing streak, all at home.

Montreal 8, Colorado 2 -- At Denver, Juan Rivera homered and drove in two runs, and Ryan Church had three hits and two RBIs in his major league debut. Rivera was four for five with three runs scored.

Cincinnati 11, Arizona 1 -- D’Angelo Jimenez hit a three-run homer at Phoenix, and Sean Casey hit a solo shot and a run-scoring double for the Reds, who won their second road series since the All-Star break.