Barry Bonds has always been close to Willie Mays.
He's never been closer to his godfather on baseball's career home run list than he is now.
Bonds hit his 659th home run Monday night -- one behind Mays for third all time -- in helping the San Francisco Giants begin the season with a 5-4 comeback victory over the Houston Astros.
Bonds said he feels no pressure as he bears down on his beloved godfather.
"I don't understand the word `pressure,'" Bonds said. "How can you have pressure when you're doing something you love?"
If Bonds can perform through the pressure of losing his father Bobby last year and dealing with an offseason filled with questions about steroids, catching Mays should be a piece of cake.
Bonds went 3-for-3 with a homer and two doubles against one of the NL's top pitchers in Roy Oswalt. His sixth opening day homer came in the eighth inning with two on and the Giants down 4-1.
Oswalt, chosen over ex-Yankees Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte to start the Astros' first game, stayed in after assuring manager Jimy Williams he was fine.
One low-and-away fastball later, Bonds was trotting and Oswalt was leaving.
"It was just a dumb pitch," Oswalt said. "You can't get beat that late in the game when you're a starter."
None of the Astros were down on Oswalt after the game. After all, many of them have seen this before.
The eventual loser was closer Octavio Dotel, who started the ninth inning of the 4-4 game and gave up the decisive run on a hit batsman, a bunt, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly.
Once Bonds, 39, passes Mays, only Babe Ruth (714) and Hank Aaron (755) will be ahead of him on the hallowed homer list.
Brewers 8, Cardinals 6
At St. Louis, Scott Podsednik drove in four runs and Milwaukee opened the season by beating the Cardinals, with President Bush watching from a box above home plate.
It's the first time the Brewers have been over .500 in two years.
Ben Grieve hit a two-run homer and Podsednik had a tiebreaking, three-run shot off Matt Morris in the sixth inning for the Brewers, who began last season with six straight losses and never recovered in a 68-94 season.
Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Cubs 7, Reds 4
At Cincinnati, Corey Patterson homered and Moises Alou doubled with the bases loaded, leading the defending NL Central champions over the Reds.
The Reds had another disappointing debut in Great American Ball Park, where 42,122 fans sat and watched their team stumble out of the gate once again.
Pirates 2, Phillies 1
At Pittsburgh, Kip Wells often was overpowering in working out of two big jams and outdueling Kevin Millwood, and the Pirates rode Craig Wilson's homer and Tike Redman's tiebreaking double to a victory over Philadelphia.
Padres 8, Dodgers 2
At Los Angeles, Brian Lawrence allowed one run in five innings, and Phil Nevin hit a grand slam as revamped San Diego opened the season by beating the Dodgers.
A sellout-crowd of 53,850 -- the largest opening-day attendance in Dodger Stadium history -- booed the home team on several occasions, most vocally after the Padres broke it open against loser Hideo Nomo with six runs in the fifth.
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