Barry Cracks Number 67
Despite never facing Barry Bonds before, James Baldwin knew what to do. He pitched the San Francisco slugger inside, but missed by inches and Bonds made Baldwin pay for it.
Bonds hit his 67th home run in the seventh inning to move within three of Mark McGwire's major league record. His solo shot helped the Giants defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 Monday night in the opener of the three-game series.
"Barry will probably win the MVP this year, especially with the amount of homers he's hit that meant something," Giants manager Dusty Baker said. "That bears a lot of weight with me. It's not only numbers, but when you hit them."
McGwire set the single-season record of 70 homers three years ago.
Bonds' homer came in the Giants' 151st game. McGwire hit his 67th in St. Louis' 162nd game. The Cardinals played 163 games that season.
Baldwin (2-5) intentionally walked Bonds in the fifth before pitching to him in the seventh. The homer came on a 91-mph fastball.
"I made a mistake and he made me pay for it," Baldwin said. "That's why he's got 67 home runs. But we've just got to keep attacking him."
Bonds lined a 1-1 pitch from the right-hander into the lower box seats in the right field corner with two outs in the seventh, giving San Francisco a 2-0 lead. It was his major league-leading 100th extra-base hit.
"I don't really make too many adjustments up there. I know where I want to be in my hitting position," Bonds said. "It's hard enough to make contact as it is, let alone try to think too much and make too many changes."
Bonds broke a tie with Sammy Sosa for the second most homers ever in a season. Sosa hit 66 in 1998.
Bonds was 1-for-3 with two walks, one intentional, and the homer.
Livan Hernandez pitched seven innings of three-hit ball for the Giants, who moved within 1 1/2 games of idle Arizona in the NL West and two behind St. Louis in the wild card race.
"That's what we play for — wins," Bonds said. "It'll be fun if we win the next two."
The Dodgers' offensive misery continued, with Shawn Green, Gary Sheffield, Paul Lo Duca and Eric Karros combining to go 0-for-12 with four walks and two strikeouts.
Los Angeles is 4 1/2 back in the division and five behind in the wild card with 11 games remaining.
"We didn't come out with as much intensity as I thought we would, especially in a game like this," Lo Duca said. "It's a big rivalry and we didn't want to lose. We're still in this thing and that's going to make it even tougher now, to lose a game like this."
Hernandez (13-14) walked four and struck out four to beat the Dodgers for the first time in four starts this season.
"I like to be in big games," he said. "You don't want to put too much pressure on yourself in big games like that. I felt good, felt confident."
Robb Nen pitched the ninth to earn his 41st save in 48 opportunities.
Baldwin gave up two runs and 10 hits in seven innings to lose his fourth consecutive decision. He walked four an struck out four, including J.T. Snow to escape a bases-loaded jam in the first.
The Giants scored their first run on third-inning doubles by Rich Aurilia and Jeff Kent.
Adrian Beltre made it 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh with his 13th homer, only the fourth allowed by Hernandez in 12 starts.
Alex Cora, whose fifth-inning leadoff single was the Dodgers' first hit, followed Beltre's homer with a double. But pinch-hitter Chris Donnels looked at a third strike and Marquis Grissom grounded out to end the seventh.
"Livan Hernandez rose to the occasion," Baker said. "He looks forward to big games. He's relaxed for them. That was a real gutsy seventh inning for him. He could have came unraveled."
Bonds only needs to homer in Houston's Enron Field, where the Giants play Oct. 2-4, to have homered in all current NL parks in his career.
By BETH HARRIS
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