DOWN THE LINE

Three Days in ...

Atlanta

Enough time for Barry Bonds to find out if the eyes on the Hank Aaron statue follow him.

The San Francisco Giants have clung to contention in the NL West, some would say in spite of Bonds. OK, we would say in spite of Bonds.

Nevertheless, he’ll appear at Turner Field for the first time since late August 2004, when he homered three times in a four-game series and left batting .367 with 38 home runs and 88 runs batted in. He homered twice in one game against Russ Ortiz, which was a bigger deal then.

Two years and a lot of other stuff later, he is 30 home runs from Aaron’s record 755.

The probables: Tuesday -- Jason Schmidt vs. Tim Hudson; Wednesday -- Brad Hennessey vs. Chuck James; Thursday -- Matt Morris vs. TBA.

Ding!

If he’s still in the mood, here’s a list of people Toronto Blue Jays Manager John Gibbons might want to consider hitting next:

* Jim Bowden, Washington Nationals general manager. The foisting of cortisone-addled Gary Majewski upon the Cincinnati Reds was shameful.

* Vicente Padilla. The Texas Rangers’ pitcher wasn’t around when the Angels hoped to settle things.

* Jeffrey Loria, Florida Marlins owner. NL manager-of-the-year ballot, Jeff: 1. Joe Girardi, Marlins; 2. Jerry Narron, Reds; 3. Willie Randolph, New York Mets.

* Brett Myers. Gibbons holds him, Kim Myers gets her shot.

* George Mitchell, baseball’s special investigator into steroid use. Can we pick up the pace a little?

* Delmon Young, who served a 50-game suspension for throwing a bat at a minor league umpire. Fifty games and a jab to the neck.

* Paul Lo Duca. Dude, get off the Internet.

* Eric Gagne. When your elbow bursts into flames, tell somebody. Preferably the guy with the roll of athletic tape strapped to his belt.

* Angel Hernandez. You still owe Mariano Duncan $12.50 for that cap.

* Alex Rodriguez. Shake yourself, man, you’re better than this.

Bats and Pieces

Kansas City’s Mark Teahen, helping to justify the Carlos Beltran trade now that former general manager Allard Baird and some of his lieutenants have been canned, is batting .339 with a .441 on-base percentage, 10 homers and 35 RBIs since the All-Star break.... The prescience of Ned Colletti: Jae Seo (groin), Danys Baez (appendectomy), Cesar Izturis (hamstring) all on the DL.

Bad news from the Bay Area for the Angels: pitcher Rich Harden looks as if he’ll make it back to the Oakland Athletics before the season ends.... Good news from the Bay Area for the Dodgers: Giants Manager Felipe Alou says he’s going to stick with Armando Benitez in the ninth inning, no matter what.

Odd statement by Chicago Cubs Manager Dusty Baker, on returning Ronny Cedeno to shortstop after Izturis’ injury: “Ronny is a natural shortstop. Anybody else is just a part-time shortstop.”

It once seemed that Jamie Moyer would retire before leaving Seattle. He vetoed a trade to Houston last season, which cost him a trip to the World Series, and also shot down a move to the Braves before talks were far enough along for an official veto. The Phillies were more attractive, however, because Moyer grew up just north of Philadelphia and attended St. Joseph’s.

Lefty Mark Mulder’s June 20 start against the Chicago White Sox, before going to the disabled list for two months because of left shoulder issues: 2 1/3 innings, 10 hits, nine runs, all earned. Mulder’s Wednesday night start against the Mets, his first since: three innings, nine hits, nine runs, all earned.

One More Thing From ...

J.P. Ricciardi

The Blue Jays’ GM, using the time-tested “Ike Turner Defense” for Gibbons, who’d just gone after his second player in a little more than a month: “For those of you who are married, if you’ve got the perfect marriage, let me know.”

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-- Tim Brown