Giants batter Braves, win NL division series opener

ATLANTA -- Barry Bonds didn't have to come up big for the San Francisco Giants to get a jump on the Atlanta Braves.

The rest of the San Francisco lineup knocked around Atlanta's heralded pitching staff while Russ Ortiz threw seven strong innings, carrying the Giants to an 8-5 victory in Game 1 of the NL division playoffs.

Down 8-2, Gary Sheffield and Javy Lopez homered in the eighth to get the Braves close. Atlanta had its chance in the ninth, but Robb Nen got Sheffield to ground into a game-ending double play with two runners on for a save.

Bonds, an overwhelming favorite for his fifth MVP award, was denied a homer in the eighth when Andruw Jones leaped above the center-field wall to make a catch.

It didn't matter to Bonds, who is more concerned about winning his first World Series ring. He smiled as he walked off the field, glancing back to look at the replay on the video board.

Bonds' teams are 0-for-5 in the postseason, losing twice to the Braves in the early '90s while playing for Pittsburgh. But the wild-card Giants grabbed an early advantage in the best-of-5 series over the East champion Braves, who led the league with 101 wins in claiming their 11th straight division title.

Bonds, who came in with a .196 postseason average, went 1-for-4 with an intentional walk and a throwing error. His teammates, though, did plenty of damage against Tom Glavine.

The Giants scored three runs in the second inning and three more in the fourth, sparked both times by the bottom of the order.

Benito Santiago, J.T. Snow and Rich Aurilia each had two RBIs.

The Braves rallied in the eighth against Tim Worrell. Sheffield, a close friend of Bonds, hit a solo homer after Lopez added a two-run shot, getting a second chance after Santiago dropped a soft popup near the Braves dugout that should have been the third out.

Santiago, an All-Star catcher, redeemed himself somewhat by leaning into a photographer's box to grab Marcus Giles' popup with a runner on to end the inning.

Game 2 is Thursday night, with Kirk Rueter starting for the Giants against Kevin Millwood.

AL PLAYOFFS

Athletics 9, Twins 1

Behind Mark Mulder's steady pitching and a whole lot of timely hitting, everything was back to normal for the Oakland Athletics.

David Justice's bases-loaded triple highlighted Oakland's 14-hit barrage, and Mulder pitched six strong innings as the host A's won to even their AL division series at one game apiece.

Eric Chavez had a three-run homer, and rookie Mark Ellis got three hits as Oakland emphatically replied to the Twins' 7-5 comeback victory in Game 1 with a tremendous offensive game against Joe Mays (0-1) and the Twins' bullpen.

-- From wire reports