Giants win, but Bonds still sits at 699

The San Francisco slugger went 0-for-2 with two walks in a 3-2 victory over Milwaukee.

By Arnie Stapleton ~ The Associated Press

MILWAUKEE -- Brewers manager Ned Yost said he and the Miller Park crowd would be happy if Barry Bonds hit his 700th homer and Milwaukee beat the San Francisco Giants. Neither happened.

Bonds went 0-for-2 and drew two walks, one of them intentional, in a 3-2 victory over Milwaukee on Tuesday night.

Before the game, Yost said he wouldn't pitch around the San Francisco slugger just to keep him from joining Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth in the 700-homer club.

Bonds worked counts full his first two times up, popping out to shortstop in the first and walking in the fourth. With the score tied at 2 and a man on second in the fifth, Bonds was intentionally walked, drawing boos from the crowd of 27,209 -- fans packed the right-field bleachers while leaving some of the ballpark's best seats empty.

Edgardo Alfonzo promptly lined a pitch from lefty Doug Davis (11-11) to left for an RBI single that made it 3-2.

Bonds kept the Giants ahead in the sixth when he fielded Brady Clark's single to left and threw out Bill Hall on a one-hopper to the plate. Hall tried to score from second and should have stopped at third but was waived through by base coach Rich Donnelly.

In Bonds' last at-bat, he sent a hard ground ball to right field in the eighth, but second baseman Keith Ginter was shifted perfectly and he threw out Bonds by a half-step. Droves of fans began heading to the exits.

San Francisco entered a half-game ahead of the Chicago Cubs in the NL wild-card race.

Yost had said Bonds wouldn't have to worry about another "not-in-my-ballpark" manager ordering his team to pitch around him this week in Milwaukee. As fans and souvenir seekers began filing into the ballpark, Yost said his pitchers wouldn't automatically pitch around Bonds but would challenge him whenever the situation was appropriate.

"I think they'd love to see us win and see Bonds hit a home run, too, which wouldn't bother me in the least," Yost said.

Yost hoped the Brewers could pitch to Bonds a dozen times in their three-game series that ends Thursday "because that means we're in a good position" -- where Bonds can't decide the outcome of a game on one swing of his mighty bat.

"And if the situation dictates, then we'll go after him. We're not going to walk him every time he comes up, and we're not going to pitch around him every time he comes up," Yost said.

Asked what advice he'd give his pitchers, Yost said: "I've already told them make sure you get the guys out in front of him and make sure you get the guys out behind him."

Bonds and the fans at Bank One Ballpark were flustered over the weekend when he hardly got any good pitches thrown his way. Arizona manager Al Pedrique said the D-backs' awful season was bad enough and he didn't want to Bonds to reach 700 homers on his watch, which drew the concern of commissioner Bud Selig.

Selig was among those who were on hand for a chance to see Bonds' historic homer. He called Bonds "a stunningly awesome player."

"When you look at his stats, and when you look at his career, it's absolutely amazing," Selig said. "To think that only Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron have done that of all the people who have played major league baseball, it's quite remarkable."

The Brewers took a 2-0 lead in the third when Hall doubled home a run and scored on Lyle Overbay's single, but the Giants, who maintained their NL wild-card lead, tied it an inning later of Marquis Grissom's two-run single.

Kirk Reuter (8-11) allowed two runs and five hits in 5 1-3 innings, and Dustin Hermanson pitched the ninth for his 13th save in 15 chances, retiring pinch-hitter Mark Johnson on a game-ending flyout with runners on second and third. Davis gave up three runs and four hits in seven innings.

Notes: The Brewers reached a two-year player-development agreement with Charleston (W.Va.) of the Class A South Atlantic League. ... Milwaukee has changed its Sept. 25 game from 6 p.m. to 12:25 p.m. to accommodate a telecast.