National League
Barry Bonds hit his 700th home run Friday, toppling another milestone and edging closer to Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron in his quest to become the greatest slugger in baseball history.
PHOTO: EPA
Bonds rewarded fans in the opener of the San Francisco Giants' nine-game homestand with a 392-foot (118m) opposite-field homer to left center leading off the third inning. He connected on an 0-1 slider from Jake Peavy, giving the Giants a 4-0 lead over the San Diego Padres.
PHOTO: AP
"It's great that I could do it at home," Bonds said.
As Bonds rounded second base, the Giants launched streamers, and an elaborate fireworks display from the scoreboard and light towers in center field. He pointed skyward as he crossed home plate, then took a curtain call to a joyous standing ovation.
PHOTO: AFP
The Giants also unveiled two enormous banners on the light towers: One featuring Bonds with "700" below him, and another featuring action shots of Ruth and Aaron and their corresponding totals.
At 40, Bonds hasn't been slowed by age, steroid suspicions or the collective fear of pitchers and managers walking him with record frequency.
The Giants beat San Diego 4-1, and Bonds plans to turn his focus back to the playoff chase after getting a bit stressed by the scrutiny. Willie Mays, whose 660 homers were passed by his godson earlier this season, was in attendance.
"The good thing is I get to sleep now and stop having nightmares about this," said Bonds, who admitted that his 660th homer meant more to him than this one.
Bonds is the first player to reach 700 homers since Aaron on July 21, 1973. With good health and similar production, he could catch Ruth early next season -- and even have an outside shot at Hammerin' Hank next fall.
Bonds got another big ovation when he walked to left field after the inning. Bonds doffed his cap as the Giants unveiled one more tribute on the outfield wall behind him, a montage featuring the slogan: "A Giant Among Legends."
The ball was captured by Steven Williams, a 25-year-old fan from nearby Pacifica, in the middle of several fans. The ball rolled right in front of Williams while he was flat on the ground in the scrum.
"I'm looking around, all of a sudden I see this white thing flying through the sky," said Williams, who plans to sell the ball. "It's not going to eBay. It's worth whatever somebody will pay for it."
Aside from a slight chill in the air, the game featured nearly ideal conditions for Bonds' historic blast.
San Francisco is in a playoff chase largely thanks to Bonds' offensive production, increasing the importance of every homer. The slugger loves to face the Padres, who have allowed 79 of his homers -- 18 more than any other club.
Even the wind was cooperating, blowing out to right field at the Giants' waterfront ballpark -- though the left-handed hitter confounded his amphibious fans by going to the opposite field. Fans began gathering in the water well before the game, filling McCovey Cove with kayaks, rafts and swimmers.
Bonds has said he couldn't imagine ever surpassing Aaron as baseball's home run king. Aaron believes Bonds will pass him soon enough.
"I think it's just a matter of time -- maybe a year, two years," Aaron said. "I think he will. I'll be happy. Everybody will be after him then. They won't be involving me. Records are made to be broken."
Aaron endured racial epithets and death threats when he approached Ruth's record in the early 1970s. Bonds has endured speculation about his super-sized body and bulked-up power statistics that defy logic and age.
And he has done it all despite the managers and pitchers who are afraid to pitch to him.
Bonds has been walked a record 207 times this season, including a record 105 times intentionally.
Bonds needed more at-bats (9,066) than Ruth (8,169) but not as many as Aaron (11,145) to reach 700 homers. But neither Aaron (1,232) nor Ruth (1,999) had as many walks as Bonds' 2,276 when they hit their 700th home run.
"It's a tremendous accomplishment," said Expos manager Frank Robinson, fifth on the list with 586 homers. "He's going to hit a lot, lot more. A lot more. It's just a great achievement."
After leaving San Francisco with 698 earlier in the month, Bonds hit just one homer on the Giants' eight-game road trip, which wrapped up Thursday in Milwaukee. Arizona manager Al Pedrique mostly refused to pitch to Bonds, though Bonds pulled within one of the milestone with a ninth-inning homer Sunday.
The Rockies and the Brewers both gave Bonds a chance to hit the historic shot -- but Bonds waited until he got back to the Bay.
Bonds hit career homer No. 660 -- to tie godfather Willie Mays -- and No. 661 at home earlier this season, both against the Brewers. He also hit his 500th in San Francisco in 2001, and later that season broke Mark McGwire's season record by hitting Nos. 71-73 at home the final weekend of the season.
As hard as it has been for Bonds to get hittable pitches lately, he's more focused on the wild-card race, which the Giants led going into the weekend. Bonds still holds out hope for his first World Series ring after falling one game short in 2002.
Braves 8, Marlins 1
In Miami, Chipper Jones hit a three-run homer to help Atlanta overcome an early deficit, and the Braves reduced their magic number for clinching the NL East to eight by beating Florida.
Florida outhit the Braves 13-11 but stranded 10 runners, grounded into three double plays and had a runner thrown out at the plate.
The defending World Series champion Marlins began the night trailing leader San Francisco by 3 1/2 games in the wild-card race.
Paul Byrd (8-5), starting on three days' rest for the first time this season, allowed nine hits but just one run in five innings. He threw 67 pitches -- all but 11 for strikes.
Dodgers 8, Rockies 6
In Denver, Cesar Izturis hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the 10th inning, helping Los Angeles overcome another shaky start by Hideo Nomo to beat Colorado.
Los Angeles, which trailed 6-1 in the second inning, remained 2 1/2 games ahead of second-place San Francisco in the NL West.
Shawn Chacon (1-8) walked Milton Bradley leading off the 10th, then issued a two-out walk to Robin Ventura. Izturis followed with a double.
Bradley and Shawn Green homered for the Dodgers. Eric Gagne (7-3), Los Angeles' seventh pitcher of the night, worked the final two innings. The teams used 43 players, including 22 by Los Angeles.
Pitching on the eight-year anniversary of his no-hitter at Coors Field, Nomo couldn't even make it out of the second inning.
American League
Orlando Cabrera and Johnny Damon hit RBI singles in the ninth inning off Mariano Rivera, and the Boston Red Sox stormed past New York 3-2 Friday night to cut the Yankees' American League East lead to 2 1/2 games.
The Red Sox are 25-5 since trailing their longtime rivals by 10 1/2 games on Aug. 15. Boston has two more games at Yankee Stadium, highlighted by Pedro Martinez vs. Mike Mussina on Sunday, and three against New York next weekend at Fenway Park.
"Without question, it was definitely a blow to their ego," Boston pitcher Bronson Arroyo said. "We start getting a little closer, they start doubting themselves a little bit more."
Rivera (4-2) took over in the ninth with a 2-1 lead, poised to earn his career high-tying 50th save. But with a boisterous crowd standing and stomping, Boston had other ideas.
Trot Nixon drew a leadoff walk on a full-count pitch and pinch-runner Dave Roberts stole second as Jason Varitek struck out. Rivera hit Kevin Millar with a pitch and then Cabrera, playing in his first Red Sox-Yankees game, grounded a tying single to right.
Rivera struck out Kevin Youkilis, but Damon blooped a soft single to center field.
"If I made my pitches, I wouldn't have had a problem," Rivera said. "The guys gave me a tremendous opportunity, but I blew it."
Keith Foulke pitched the ninth for his 30th save in 35 chances, completing the combined four-hitter. Mike Timlin (5-4) pitched one inning for the win.
Tigers 11, White Sox 10
In Chicago, Carlos Pena homered off Shingo Takatsu to lead off the 10th inning as Detroit outslugged Chicago.
Omar Infante led off the game with a home run and hit a two-run shot in the seventh inning for the Tigers. Craig Monroe, Bobby Higginson and Dmitri Young also homered for Detroit.
Paul Konerko had four hits, including a pair of two-run homers, and Sandy Alomar Jr. and Willie Harris added solo homers for the White Sox.
Esteban Yan (3-4) got the win after blowing the save.
Takatsu (6-4) gave up Pena's 22nd homer of the season.
Orioles 11, Twins 2
In Minneapolis, Rafael Palmeiro hit his 548th homer to tie Mike Schmidt for 10th place on the career list, and Larry Bigbie had a career-high seven RBIs as Baltimore stopped Minnesota's longest winning streak of the season at nine.
Bigbie had an RBI double in the fifth, then capped a pair of five-run innings with a three-run double in the sixth and a three-run homer in the seventh.
Sidney Ponson (11-14) won for the eighth time in 10 decisions, giving up two runs and five hits in seven innings.
Palmeiro's two-run homer off Terry Mulholland (5-9), a drive off the facing of the upper deck in right, put Baltimore ahead 3-2 in the sixth. Palmeiro reached 20 homers for the 14th straight season, matching a feat previously accomplished by Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, Eddie Mathews and Schmidt.
Mariners 6, Athletics 3
In Seattle, rookie Greg Dobbs' three-run pinch-hit double started Seattle's five-run seventh inning, and Ichiro Suzuki broke the major league single-season record with his 199th single.
The loss cut the Athletics' lead in the AL West to one game over Anaheim.
Suzuki went 2-for-4 and has 235 hits this season -- 22 shy of the major league single-season record set by George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns in 1920.
Edgar Martinez got his 1,000th career RBI as a designated hitter, a record at the position.
Ron Villone (6-5) threw two scoreless innings for the win, and J.J. Putz pitched the ninth for his eighth save.
Angels 9, Rangers 5
In Anaheim, California, Vladimir Guerrero homered twice, and Troy Glaus and Jose Guillen also hit home runs to help Anaheim move within a game of Oakland for first place in the AL West.
Bartolo Colon (16-11) shrugged off first-inning homers by Hank Blalock and Mark Teixeira to win for the 11th time in 14 starts. He allowed three runs and three hits in seven innings and struck out seven.
Frank Francisco, suspended for the rest of the season but appealing, allowed Guerrero's second homer of the game -- his 32nd -- in the eighth. Francisco was suspended for a minimum of 16 games following his arrest for throwing a chair that hit a woman and broke her nose in Monday's bullpen brawl with fans in Oakland.
Guerrero broke a 3-3 tie with his 31st homer, leading off the fifth against Park Chan-ho (3-6).
In a surprise move, South Korean pitcher Kim Byung-hyun rejoined the Boston Red Sox on Friday after initial indications that he'd be out until next season.
Kim returned to the team at -- of all places -- Yankee Stadium, a park that has been unkind to the submariner.
Although not activated, Kim might be able to pitch again this season, general manager Theo Epstein said.
"He's not happy with the way his 2004 season was going," Epstein said. "He feels it's his obligation to help if he can."
Kim's ineffectiveness cost him a spot on the club earlier this year after going 1-1 with a 6.17 ERA in three starts.
The righty has been throwing side sessions at Fenway Park over the past week and was scheduled for two more this weekend. He then will be evaluated.
"The ball was pretty lively," manager Terry Francona said. "The ball came out of his hands nice."
Listening to head phones and singing softly to himself in the clubhouse before Friday's game between Boston and New York, Kim was officially with his team for the first time since being optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket on May 11.
On Friday, Kim stood alone in center field for most of batting practice -- just a hundred meters from the pitching mound where he had some of the worst moments in his career -- and had little interaction with teammates. He sprinted off the field and declined to answer any questions.
Kim's very public collapse against the Yankees in the 2001 World Series -- when, as Arizona's closer, he blew two ninth-inning saves at Yankee Stadium -- was not a factor when the Red Sox traded for him in 2003.
He helped stabilize a shaky bullpen and went 8-5 with a 3.18 ERA and 16 saves. But Kim did not endear himself to teammates, acting aloof and often isolating himself in the clubhouse and on road trips.
Despite some of the idiosyncrasies, Boston still had high expectations for Kim and signed him to a two-year US$10 million contract in the offseason.
Kim was projected to be the fifth starter this season, but struggled. His velocity was down and his control out of sync, and he was demoted to the minors.
The Red Sox publicly acknowledged Kim needed to learn more about team concept. He even went back to his home country during the season to work with a personal trainer. When he returned, Kim continued to have setbacks on the mound while in the minors.
"When he's got it, he can be very tough," center fielder Johnny Damon said. "So we'll see. Only time will tell how good he can become again."
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