It’s Another Giant Step for Bonds

As if Barry Bonds needs the help of an awkward outfielder and an audacious opposing manager.

The San Francisco slugger moved within two home runs of 700 on Tuesday night when Colorado left fielder Matt Holliday dropped his fly ball over the fence in the third inning.

Bonds’ 40th homer gave the Giants a short-lived lead in an 8-7 loss at Coors Field, and was made possible by an unexpected decision from Rockies Manager Clint Hurdle.

Edgardo Alfonzo preceded Bonds’ at-bat with a double that drove in Ray Durham and cut Colorado’s advantage to 2-1. First base was open. Catcher J.D. Closser looked into the dugout as Bonds dug in.

It seemed like a no-brainer. Hurdle had walked Bonds intentionally 20 times this season, more often than any other manager. And the batter behind Bonds had gone three for 20 after those walks.

But with his team hopelessly out of the National League West race and everyone in town clamoring for him to challenge Bonds -- Denver Post columnist Mark Kiszla wrote that the Rockies had a “moral obligation” to do so -- Hurdle took down the roadblock.

The crowd of 33,424 cheered in appreciation. Rockies right-hander Jamey Wright threw a strike and two balls before Bonds went with a pitch, driving it close to the wall in left field.

Holliday was in position to backhand the ball and timed his leap. But the ball caromed off his glove over the yellow railing.

“At least it didn’t hit my head and bounce over like [Jose] Canseco,” said Holliday, referring to one of baseball’s most infamous bloopers.

Bond was needled in the dugout, his teammates saying the home run put him at 697 1/2 .

Jeromy Burnitz hit a two-run blast to break a 6-6 tie in the eighth to give Colorado the victory.

All in all, there were five homers--in other words, a typical game at Coors Field. The loss dropped the Giants 4 1/2 games behind the Dodgers in the National League West and kept them a half-game behind the Cubs in the wild-card race.

Bonds walked in the fifth inning, but in the seventh the Rockies again got careless. Jeff Fassero grooved a 3-0 fastball that Bonds whacked on a line to the right-field fence, missing another home run by less than two feet. He was held to a single.

“That one had topspin,” he said.

Hurdle evidently had seen enough. He ordered Bonds walked intentionally with one out and a runner on second in the ninth. The Giants scored a run with two out but left the bases loaded when Shawn Chacon struck out Marquis Grissom.

Bonds reached 40 homers for the fifth season in a row and eighth in his career, tying Hank Aaron for the National League record. And he got there despite being walked intentionally a record 102 times.

The number could grow tonight -- Hurdle thought long and hard about the at-bat that resulted in the home run.

“I had a gut feeling that if we walked him we were asking for a big inning,” he said. “Then, of course, he hits the homer. The feeling went from my gut to my throat.”