Bonds, Kent Leave Feuding in the Past

Jeff Kent had highly publicized run-ins with Barry Bonds during their six years as Giant teammates, but Sunday they sounded as if they had honorary memberships in a mutual admiration society.

“He’s old, but he can still swing the bat,” Kent said. “Barry’s just trying to hit home runs more than he ever has. He’s trying to launch home runs, and he launched two against us.”

Bonds responded to a question about Kent’s being booed lustily during each at-bat at SBC Park by saying, “There’s no one in this city who can say he didn’t play his butt off here. He was an MVP here. He put up good numbers. [The fans] just want to boo. He’s with the Dodgers. What do you expect?”

Kent says he doesn’t take the booing personally. In fact, he almost enjoys it.

“They are just showing their love,” he said. “These are good fans because they hate the Dodgers. And Dodger fans hate the Giants. It’s good for the game.

“When I see these people individually, they want to give me a big bear hug.”

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Bonds responded to Dodger pitcher Brad Penny’s comment that the Giant slugger hit “a stupid pitch” for a home run Friday night.

“I think I’ve hit a couple off him, so he’s thrown more than one stupid pitch to me,” Bonds said.

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Maybe it’s Manager Jim Tracy’s way of sending a subtle message to the front office. Maybe not. But he spent several minutes lauding Jeff Weaver for his value to the pitching staff and the maturity he has gained in two seasons with the Dodgers.

“I saw special things take place the last couple of seasons with Jeff,” Tracy said. “When you have information to make someone better and he’s receptive, it will make a difference.”

Weaver, who at 14-10 will post his first winning record in seven major league seasons, will be a free agent. Efforts to sign him to an extension failed, and he is expected to command top dollar because the free-agent pitching market will be thin.

Tracy clearly wants Weaver, who has pitched 430 innings in two Dodger seasons, to be part of next year’s staff.

“I’m not aware of the entire financial scope and I don’t want to get involved in that,” he said. “But finding another guy who throws more than 400 innings, that’s not like pulling fruit off the tree.”

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Rookie Willy Aybar was 0 for 5, ending an eight-game hitting streak that began when he was inserted as leadoff batter.... Jerry Royster, manager of the Dodgers’ Las Vegas triple-A affiliate, will join the major league coaching staff for the last two weeks of the season.

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Bonds rising

Barry Bonds’ second homer in three days left the San Francisco slugger nine behind Babe Ruth in career home runs. The leaders (* -- active):

*--* PLAYER HOME RUNS 1. Hank Aaron 755 2. Babe Ruth 714 3. Barry Bonds * 705 4. Willie Mays 660 5. Sammy Sosa * 588 6. Frank Robinson 586 7. Mark McGwire 583 8. Harmon Killebrew 573 9. Rafael Palmeiro * 569 10. Reggie Jackson 563 11. Mike Schmidt 548 12. (tie) Ken Griffey Jr. * 536 Mickey Mantle 536 14. Jimmie Foxx 534 15. (tie) Willie McCovey 521 Ted Williams 521

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