Bonds Hits No. 701, but Giants Lose

Barry Bonds wasted no time getting to 701.

The San Francisco slugger added another home run to his impressive total a day after hitting career homer No. 700, but David Wells shut down the rest of the Giants into the eighth inning and Jay Payton hit a tiebreaking three-run shot in the seventh to lead the San Diego Padres to a 5-1 victory Saturday.

“If you want to make a name for yourself, you’ve got to challenge the best, go after him,” Wells said. “Unless it comes from the dugout, I’m not going to walk anybody.”

A tribute to Bonds was played on the center-field scoreboard before the game, and he received a long ovation when he jogged out to take his position in left field and again when he stepped into the batter’s box.

He gave the crowd more to cheer about when he led off the second inning with a solo homer to right-center on the first pitch he saw from Wells (12-7), the 43rd homer of the season for the six-time National League most valuable player.

With the latest home run, the 40-year-old Bonds moved into a tie with Ted Williams for 11th place on the all-time RBIs list with 1,839. He also took over seventh place on the career list for total bases from Carl Yastrzemski with 5,540 -- he began the year in 10th place, also passing Frank Robinson and Eddie Murray.

Bonds joined Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) in the 700 club Friday night with a third-inning solo homer off the Padres’ Jake Peavy.

Giant ace Jason Schmidt (16-7) looked strong early but couldn’t maintain it.

The All-Star right-hander had his start moved back a day so he could pitch against the Padres twice in the final weeks.

The Giants lost for only the fifth time in 15 September games and had their six-game winning streak stopped. They still have a half-game lead over the Cubs in the NL wild-card race, because Chicago lost to Cincinnati, 6-5.