Bonds goes homerless; Astros lose

HOUSTON -- Barry Bonds reached base four times -- but still remained one short of Mark McGwire's home run record -- and the San Francisco Giants further scrambled the NL playoff picture Tuesday night with a 4-1 victory over the Houston Astros.

Bonds went 1-for-2 with two walks, and was hit by a pitch. He stayed at 69 home runs, with five games left to break Big Mac's mark.

Facing Shane Reynolds, among the majors' best control pitchers, Bonds swung only once in four trips at Enron Field. Against Billy Wagner's 98-mph fastballs, he grounded out.

Bonds will face rookie Tim Redding on tonight, with a chance to make history on a historic day. It will be the 50th anniversary of one of baseball's most famous home runs, Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World."

A record crowd of 43,548 that included commissioner Bud Selig and Bonds' father, Bobby, saw the Giants send Houston to its fourth straight loss.

The Astros dropped into a tie for Central lead with St. Louis, which beat Milwaukee 5-1. They had held the division lead by themselves since Aug. 17.

Ramon Martinez hit the Giants' franchise-record 227th home run of the season as they won for the sixth time in eight games. They began the day two games behind Arizona in the West.

Rich Aurilia doubled and singled, joining Willie Mays and Bobby Bonds as the only San Francisco players with 200 hits in a season. Jeff Kent delivered his team-record 47th double, driving in Bonds.

Kirk Rueter (14-12) limited the Astros to one run in 6 1-3 innings. Robb Nen pitched the ninth for his 44th save.

Reynolds (13-11), who had won four straight decisions, was foiled in his first bid to earn his 100th career victory.