Barry Bonds Sits Out, but Giants Win Anyway
It was a light night for Barry Bonds, who rode the pine for the Giants. (AP Images)
Maybe Barry Bonds should ask Bud Selig not to show up. The commissioner was in attendance for the second consecutive night and not only did Bonds not have a home run, he didn’t even see the field.
Rich Aurilia hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth inning, Noah Lowry held Atlanta scoreless after allowing a run in the first and the San Francisco Giants picked up a rare win with Bonds out of the lineup, beating the Braves, 2-1, Wednesday night at AT&T Park.
With Bonds resting after playing 13 innings Tuesday night, the Giants stopped their three-game losing streak behind Lowry (11-7), who allowed one run and seven hits in eight innings.
Aurilia and fill-in cleanup hitter Pedro Feliz provided the offense with Bonds sitting out. Feliz had two hits and an RBI and Aurilia’s solo homer off Chuck James (8-8) gave the Giants a 2-1 lead in the sixth.
Lowry and the bullpen made that stand up, giving the Giants just their sixth win in 19 games with Bonds out of the starting lineup. Brad Hennessey pitched the ninth for his seventh save in nine chances.
Manager Bruce Bochy said there was a “good chance” Bonds would be back in the lineup for Thursday afternoon’s series finale to continue his pursuit of Hank Aaron’s career home run record of 755. Bonds is sitting on 753 career homers.
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