Giants Keep Pressure on Padres, 5-4

Barry Bonds singled and walked twice in his second game and Mike Matheny hit two run-scoring doubles Tuesday night to help San Francisco defeat slumping San Diego, 5-4, at San Francisco.

The first-place Padres (71-73) lost their fourth in a row hours after Manager Bruce Bochy called a team meeting to address the Padres’ inconsistent play.

Noah Lowry (13-12) overcame baserunners in every inning and got the victory. Ray Durham hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the fifth for San Francisco, which pulled within five games of the Padres in the National League West with 18 to play.

Bonds took a called third strike in the first inning and walked on four pitches in the third after Omar Vizquel reached base on a throwing error by shortstop Khalil Greene.

Bonds lined a single to center in the fifth that chased Brian Lawrence, then walked again in the seventh before Jason Ellison entered as a pinch runner and came around to score.

Bonds clearly favored his right knee while playing left field, even rubbing his leg between batters. He doubled Monday night in his first at-bat in nearly a year.

Matheny’s fourth-inning double tied the score, 3-3. He also doubled in the second.

St. Louis 5, Pittsburgh 4 -- Jim Edmonds and Yadier Molina homered at St. Louis and the Cardinals, who are 12-3 against the Pirates, reduced their magic number for clinching the NL Central to two.

Chris Carpenter, a 21-game winner, was handed a 4-0 lead after two innings, but struggled, giving up four runs and 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Florida 4, Houston 2 -- Paul Lo Duca hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the seventh inning at Houston and the Marlins maintained their one-game lead in the wild-card race.

Houston has lost four of five. Houston rookie center fielder Willy Taveras left with a cut on his right middle finger that required stitches.

Philadelphia 5, Atlanta 4 -- Mike Lieberthal drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the sixth inning at Philadelphia and the Phillies stayed a game behind Florida in the wild-card race.

Washington 4, New York 2 -- Brad Wilkerson, Marlon Byrd and Preston Wilson each had run-scoring singles at New York to help the Nationals win the opener of a three-game series between teams on the fringe of the wild-card race.

Milwaukee 3, Arizona 1 -- Carlos Lee and Geoff Jenkins hit consecutive solo homers at Phoenix and Chris Capuano became the Brewers’ first 17-game winner in 13 seasons.

Chicago 4, Cincinnati 3 -- Todd Walker’s long single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th gave the Cubs the victory at Chicago. Derrek Lee hit his 42nd homer for the Cubs, who have won nine of 12.