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Bonds hits No. 754 as Giants win

The San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds watches his 754th career home run sail past the stadium lights in the first inning of a game against the Florida Marlins in San Francisco on Friday. The Giants won 12-10. PHOTO: EPA

Barry Bonds hit his 754th home run to move within one of Hank Aaron's career record as San Francisco beat Florida 12-10 on Friday.

Bonds hit a solo shot off rookie Rick Vanden Hurk in the first inning, his 20th homer of the season.

Bonds walked in his next four at-bats and was looking to keep up his pursuit last night against Dontrelle Willis of the Marlins.

The Giants tied a season high with four home runs, including Ray Durham's tiebreaking two-run shot off Renyel Pinto (2-4) in the sixth inning that gave them a 9-7 lead. Pedro Feliz and Bengie Molina hit back-to-back shots in the fifth off Vanden Hurk.

Cody Ross and Hanley Ramirez homered for Florida.

Vinnie Chulk (4-2) retired the final two batters of the sixth to earn the win.

Diamondbacks 8, Braves 7

At Phoenix, Tony Clark homered to lead off the bottom of the 11th for Arizona, which squandered a seven-run lead but still beat Atlanta.

Clark's homer followed a game-winning shot by Eric Byrnes on Thursday and was the Diamondbacks' fifth game-winner this season. Arizona has won seven straight to move within one game of Los Angeles in the NL West.

Edgar Gonzalez (4-2), the Diamondbacks' fifth pitcher, worked the 10th and 11th for the win.

Phillies 8, Pirates 1

At Philadelphia, Pat Burrell homered and had three RBIs and Jamie Moyer allowed one run in seven innings in Philadelphia's win over Pittsburgh.

The Phillies learned before the seven-inning victory that Chase Utley, their All-Star second baseman, could miss three-to-four weeks after undergoing surgery to have a pin placed in his broken right hand. Utley was hit by a pitch on Thursday.

Nationals 6, Mets 2

At New York, Washington's Ryan Church and Austin Kearns homered to back the pitching of former Met Mike Bacsik.

Bacsik (4-6) allowed eight hits over seven innings.

The Nationals bunched four doubles for three runs against Jorge Sosa (7-6) in the second inning. He has lost five of his last seven starts.

Moises Alou, in his first game since May 12, doubled for New York and went 1-for-4.

Padres 9, Astros 4

At Houston, Milton Bradley homered and Brian Giles had a season-high three RBIs for San Diego and Jake Peavy won for the first time since June 19.

Peavy (10-5) allowed one run and four hits and struck out eight for the Padres, who won for the second time in eight games. He is 5-0 with a 0.98 ERA on the road this year and his 2.41 season ERA remains second in the NL.

Woody Williams (5-12) went six innings and allowed four runs and eight hits as Houston's three-game winning streak ended.

Reds 5, Cubs 4

At Cincinnati, Edwin Encarnacion's ninth-inning RBI single gave Cincinnati the victory over Chicago.

The Cubs reached closer David Weathers (2-3) for five hits and two runs in the top of the ninth. Norris Hopper led off the bottom of the inning against Bobby Howry (5-6) with a single. After a sacrifice bunt, Encarnacion, who had homered in the fourth, singled between third base and shortstop for the winner.

Jeff Keppinger had a two-run double as the Reds improved to 4-1 on their current homestand.

Brewers 12, Cardinals 2

At St. Louis, Claudio Vargas worked eight innings for the first time in four seasons and was backed by Milwaukee's 19-hit attack to beat St. Louis.

Corey Hart homered, doubled and singled, Kevin Mench matched his career high with four hits and Tony Graffanino had three RBIs for the Brewers, who won for the third time in their last 11 road games.

Mike Maroth (0-4) surrendered seven runs and 11 hits and left after facing one batter in the fifth for the Cardinals, who have lost three of the first four in a seven-game homestand against the top two teams in the NL Central.

Jhonny Peralta homered twice and Kenny Lofton began his third stint with the Cleveland Indians by getting three hits in a 10-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins in the American League on Friday.

Peralta hit a three-run homer in the third off Boof Bonser (5-7) and added a two-run shot in the sixth when the Indians opened a 10-0 lead for Paul Byrd (9-4).

Cleveland improved to 6-0 this season against Minnesota, which dropped its fifth straight. The Twins have been outscored 30-5 in their last three games.

Lofton returned to the Indians in a trade with Texas for minor league catcher Max Ramirez. He played left field for the first time in his career and finished 3-for-4 with an RBI in his first game for Cleveland since the 2001 playoffs.

Red Sox 7, Devil Rays 1

At St. Petersburg, Florida, Tim Wakefield allowed one run over six innings and Kevin Youkilis hit a three-run homer to lead Boston.

Wakefield (12-9) gave up six hits and three walks, striking out seven as he won for the fifth time in six starts. The knuckleballer improved to 17-2 against the Devil Rays, the most wins by a Tampa Bay opponent. He is 8-0 at Tropicana Field.

Boston has won seven of eight. The Devil Rays have lost seven in a row, getting outscored 71-21. Tampa Bay is 5-24 since June 25.

Jason Hammel (1-1) threw five scoreless innings, then was pulled after allowing consecutive one-out walks in the sixth. Youkilis, in an 0-for-11 slide, gave Boston a 3-1 lead with his three-run drive off Juan Salas.

Orioles 4, Yankees 2, 1st game

Yankees 8, Orioles 7, 2nd game

At Baltimore, rookie Jeremy Guthrie limited New York to two runs in six innings and Baltimore won its fifth straight.

Earlier, the Yankees beat the Orioles in the completion of a game suspended on June 28 by rain. Play resumed in the eighth inning with the Yankees up 8-6 and closer Mariano Rivera gave up a run in a harrowing ninth before earning his 16th save.

That game officially occurred last month, so the Orioles won their seventh straight at home.

Ramon Hernandez went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and Kevin Millar homered in the eighth inning for Baltimore.

New York third baseman Alex Rodriguez started the night needing one home run to reach 500 for his career. He grounded out in his only at-bat after the suspended game was resumed, then went 0-for-2 with two walks.

Royals 6, Rangers 1

At Kansas City, Missouri, Brian Bannister pitched seven shutout innings and Billy Butler hit a three-run homer for Kansas City.

Bannister (7-6) allowed four hits and struck out six.

Butler homered in the first off Jamey Wright (3-3) to give Kansas City a 3-0 lead.

Sammy Sosa hit his Texas-leading 16th homer and the 604th of his career with two outs in the eighth to snap the Royals' 17-inning scoreless streak.

White Sox 4, Blue Jays 3

At Chicago, Jermaine Dye homered and Juan Uribe hit a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth inning to lead Chicago.

Jon Garland (8-7) allowed three runs and 10 hits in seven innings. He struck out two and walked one. Bobby Jenks pitched a perfect ninth for his 29th save.

Reed Johnson matched a career high with four hits for Toronto, which snapped a season-high five-game winning streak.

Mariners 7, Athletics 1

At Seattle, Adrian Beltre hit a three-run double and Jose Guillen hit a two-run homer as Seattle beat Oakland to end a season-high seven-game losing streak.

Felix Hernandez (7-6) allowed seven hits and one run -- a homer by Nick Swisher -- over seven innings. He struck out seven and walked two.

Guillen's homer made it 7-1 and capped Seattle's four-run fourth off rookie Dallas Braden (1-6), who lost for the sixth consecutive time.

Angels 11, Tigers 6

At Anaheim, California, Gary Matthews Jr broke out of an 0-for-19 drought with three run-scoring hits and robbed Craig Monroe of a grand slam to lead Los Angeles past Detroit in the matchup of division leaders.

Jered Weaver (7-5) won for the first time in five starts since beating the Dodgers on June 16. He pitched five innings, allowing six runs and a season-high 11 hits -- including solo homers by Placido Polanco and Curtis Granderson.

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