Apr 29, 2007 1:25 am US/Pacific
Bonds Hits 742nd, But D-Backs Edge Out Giants 5-4
PHOENIX, Ariz. (AP / Sports Network) ―
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San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds watchs his team from the dugout against the Arizona Diamondbacks shortly after hitting home run #742.
AP
Barry Bonds hit his 742nd home run Saturday night, moving within 13 of Hank Aaron's career record.
Scott Hairston hit his 14th, and it lifted the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 5-4 victory over Bonds and the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night.
One night after walking Bonds three times, Arizona manager Bob Melvin decided to challenge the San Francisco slugger.
With Dave Roberts at second and two outs, Bonds hit a 1-1 pitch from Arizona's Edgar Gonzalez 428 feet into the concourse in right-center field to give the Giants a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning.
It was Bonds' eighth home run of the season -- in 56 at-bats -- and his third career shot off Gonzalez.
Meantime, Hairston, a pinch-hitter, hit reliever Vinnie Chulk's first pitch 418 feet into the left-field seats with two runners on to give the Diamondbacks a 5-4 lead in the seventh inning.
Chulk (0-1) and Jack Taschner couldn't protect a 4-1 lead for starter Matt Cain, who allowed one hit and one run in six innings. He walked four and struck out two.
Dustin Nippert (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings. Jose Valverde got three outs for his 10th save in 11 chances.
Pedro Feliz led off the ninth with a bloop single to right field off Valverde. Randy Winn reached on a fielder's choice grounder and took second on a wild pitch.
After hitting a line drive that landed inches foul down the right-field line, pinch-hitter Ray Durham flied out to center. Valverde got Roberts to ground to short to end the game.
In the fifth, Melvin walked Bonds with a runner on second. But by then the Giants led 4-0.
With the bases empty and a one-run lead in the eighth, Melvin pitched to Bonds. Reliever Doug Slaten went to 3-2 before missing low and outside with ball four.
Cain held the Diamondbacks hitless until Tony Clark lined a single to right field in the fifth. In his last start against Arizona on April 22, Cain allowed three hits, two in the ninth inning.
He was just as dominant Saturday night, although he struggled with his control at times, walking two men in the second and fifth innings.
Cain left after six innings, having thrown 99 pitches.
In the seventh, Taschner gave up a single to Chad Tracy, a walk to Carlos Quentin and an RBI single to Miguel Montero, which cut the Giants' lead to 4-2.
Chulk relieved Taschner and gave up Hairston's homer on his first pitch.
Gonzalez walked in a run in the third and gave up a solo home run to Pedro Feliz -- a 381-foot drive to the left field seats -- in the fourth.
Notes: Bonds has also now homered on all dates between April 1 - October 7, with the exception of just three: August 5, September 30 and October 6. He has also homered in four of his last six games, and his 19 home runs are the most by a visiting player at Chase Field.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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