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Thursday, August 9, 2007

Bonds hits No. 757 as Giants win 5-0 By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Sports Writer

Bonds hits No. 757 as Giants win 5-0 By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Sports Writer
2 hours, 23 minutes ago



SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds wasted no time adding to his home run record: this time, with a two-run shot into the water for No. 757. It helped Bruce Bochy to his 1,000th managerial victory, too.

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Bonds hit a towering homer into McCovey Cove in the first inning of the San Francisco Giants' 5-0 win against Washington on Wednesday, one night after breaking Hank Aaron's 33-year-old record with his 756th.

Pitcher Matt Cain later hit his first career home run and overran first base before tapping his left foot on the bag and taking off on his trot, clearly having not paid close enough attention to Bonds' regular trips around the bases. Cain connected for the solo shot in his 112th at-bat and was the first Giants' pitcher to homer since Jason Schmidt on Aug. 7 last year at Arizona. It hadn't happened at home since Schmidt did it two years ago.

In his first at-bat since becoming home run king, Bonds sent a 1-1 pitch from Tim Redding into the bay beyond the right-field arcade, a 438-foot drive that was his 35th career splash hit and second this year.

When Bonds broke Mark McGwire's single-season record with No. 71 in 2001, he homered again in his next at-bat to increase the record just like he did Wednesday. Bonds also connected in consecutive chances April 13 at Pittsburgh.

He received a warm standing ovation when he ran out to his spot in left for the first inning and tipped his hat and waved before blowing on his hands to get warm on another cool summer night in the Giants' ballpark by the bay when first-pitch temperature was 62 degrees.

Bonds smiled and nodded his head to some fans on his way to the on-deck circle in the first, then wasted no time adding to his record total.

Bonds finished the night 1-for-2 with a walk. He drew a six-pitch walk in the fourth — his 115th free pass, matching his total from 2006 — and grounded out to shortstop against a shifted infield in the sixth.

Bonds' 757 blast helped Cain (4-12) end a five-start winless stretch with his first victory since July 4 at Cincinnati, while Bochy became the 55th skipper in major league history to reach the 1,000 win mark. He is sixth among active managers.

Omar Vizquel and Bengie Molina added RBI singles for San Francisco, which played the eighth game in a stretch of 31 games in 30 days. The Giants have a makeup doubleheader Monday in Pittsburgh after a home weekend series with the Pirates.

Redding (1-3) became the 447th pitcher to surrender a home run to Bonds after Mike Bacsik served up the record-breaking solo drive a night earlier. Bonds hit his 23rd homer of the season, then tipped his cap when he came out in the top of the second to play left field.

Cain allowed three hits and struck out three in six innings. Jack Taschner retired six of seven hitters in two innings and Vinnie Chulk finished the four-hitter for the team's eighth shutout. Washington was blanked for the ninth time.

Nationals first baseman Dmitri Young left in the second inning because of tightness in his left hamstring. Young, who signed a two-year contract extension with the Nationals in late July, apparently hurt himself running out a routine grounder in the first.

Young, hitting .333, is hitless in six at-bats since hitting a home run in the 10th inning of Monday night's 3-2 loss to San Francisco. Robert Fick replaced him in the lineup.

Notes:@ The fan who retrieved Bonds' 757th ball, regular cove kayaker Martin Wong, was whisked away to have the souvenir authenticated. This was Wong's first ever Bonds ball. ... Felipe Lopez stole his 17th base in the first for the Nationals after a leadoff single. ... San Francisco drew 42,991 fans for its 31st sellout. The Giants have played in front of 29 straight sellout crowds, home and away (15 in San Francisco).

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