Barry Bonds Fails to Homer Again, but Giants Beat Braves, 4-2
Maybe this guy is giving Barry Bonds, but we doubt it. Bonds could use some inspiration, though. He hasn’t homered in five games. (AP Images)
The closest Barry Bonds came to a home run was watching Jeff Francoeur’s drive sail over his head into the leftfield seats.
Dave Roberts hit a tying, two-run double in the fifth inning and scored the go-ahead run on Ray Durham’s single to help the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-2, Thursday. The 43-year-old Bonds went 1-for-4 with a double to left-center and remained at 753 home runs, two shy of tying Hank Aaron’s career record.
The Giants paid -142 on the moneyline (meaning a winning wager of $142 would net a $100 profit).
Bonds made two nice catches against the wall but extended his homerless stretch to five games and 18 at-bats since connecting twice against the Chicago Cubs on July 19 at Wrigley Field, his 18th and 19th homers this year. Bonds is 3-for-18 since then and 6-for-42 (.143) since singling at Cincinnati on July 5.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig attended his third straight Giants game, hoping to be present for the historic shots.
Bob DuPuy, MLB’s president and chief operating officer, will attend San Francisco’s weekend games against Florida while Selig is in Cooperstown, N.Y., for the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Selig is scheduled to be in Los Angeles starting Tuesday when the Giants face the rival Dodgers.
Back in the starting lineup after a night off, he popped out to third base leading off the second and fouled to the catcher for the second out in the fourth, tossing his bat and catching it in his hand before carrying it in by the barrel.
In other early National League action on Thursday:
Pittsburgh 8, New York Mets 4: Nate McLouth opened the sixth inning with a broken-bat single and pitcher Paul Maholm (7-12) followed with an infield hit, keying a five-run rally that led the Pirates to a road upset that paid their backers +174. Xavier Nady delivered a two-out, two-strike single for two runs, and Josh Phelps followed with a two-run homer in the sixth.
Washington 7, Philadelphia 6: The Phillies lost more than the game. Chase Utley, Philadelphia’s All-Star second baseman, broke his right hand and will miss a significant amount of time for a team in the wild-card hunt. Utley was hit in the fifth inning by John Lannan, who was making his major-league debut. Utley finished the game, going 2-for-4, but X-rays afterward showed he broke a bone in the hand. Utley, batting .336 with 17 homers and 82 RBI, didn’t think he’d be sidelined for a month. The Nationals paid +165 for the road win.
Cincinnati 6, Milwaukee 5: Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 588th homer and the Reds rallied against Milwaukee’s nearly automatic closer for a 10-inning victory at home. Cincinnati paid +106. The Brewers continue to see their lead in the NL Central dwindle as they’ve gone 13-15 since June 13.
Houston 7, San Diego 1: Carlos Lee, Morgan Ensberg and Craig Biggio hit home runs, Wandy Rodriguez (7-9) pitched seven strong innings and the Astros won as -124 home favorites. It was Biggio’s second home run in three games since announcing his retirement.
For complete MLB odds for Friday, visit the Bodog Sportsbook.