Bonds Homers, Giants Rally to Beat Padres

Barry Bonds broke a tie with a two-run homer in the eighth inning at San Francisco as the Giants came back from a six-run deficit to defeat the San Diego Padres, 9-7, Tuesday night.

The loss, coupled with the Dodgers’ victory over the Colorado Rockies, dropped San Diego a game and a half behind the division-leading Dodgers in the National League West.

After Bill Mueller reached base on shortstop Chris Gomez’s fielding error, Bonds connected for his 41st homer, driving a 3-2 pitch from Dario Veras (2-1) over the center field wall.

Ken Caminiti hit two home runs for the Padres and drove in four, pushing his season RBI total to 122, a club record.

Jim Poole (2-1) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief and Rod Beck got the final out for his 34th save.

The win snapped the Giants’ 10-game losing streak against San Diego.

Montreal 7, New York 1--Moises Alou went three for four with his 20th homer and had three RBIs at Montreal, and Jeff Fassero reached the 15-win mark for the first time.

Fassero (15-9) pitched a six-hitter for his fifth complete game, struck out 10 and walked two to beat Jason Isringhausen (6-14) and give the Expos their fifth win in their last six games.

Atlanta 5, Houston 4--At Atlanta, John Smoltz became the majors’ first 22-game winner and tied the club record for strikeouts.

It was the third consecutive victory for the Braves, following a six-game losing streak.

The Astros, who fell to 0-8 on the road this month, lost their fourth in a row and seventh in nine games.

Smoltz (22-8) struck out seven, lifting his NL-leading strikeout total to 262, which ties the modern club record set by Phil Niekro in 1977.

Mark Wohlers pitched out of a ninth-inning jam for his 36th save.

The key hit for the Braves was a three-run, fifth-inning double by Ryan Klesko off losing pitcher Darryl Kile (12-9).

Pittsburgh 5, Cincinnati 3--In Jim Leyland’s first game as their lame-duck manager, the Pirates were victorious behind the hitting of John Wehner at Pittsburgh.

Wehner went three for three and scored three runs to help the Pirates win their season-high sixth straight game.

Leyland, in his 11th year in Pittsburgh, announced earlier in the day that he will leave the Pirates after this season.

Francisco Cordova (3-7) got his first career win as a starter. John Smiley (12-14) lost to Pittsburgh for the fourth time this season.

St. Louis 5, Chicago 3--Brian Jordan’s two-run homer capped an eighth-inning rally at St. Louis that enabled that the Cardinals to move 3 1/2 games ahead of second-place Houston in the NL Central.

Donovan Osborne (13-9) gave up three runs over eight innings, and T.J. Mathews got the final out for his fifth save. Bob Patterson (3-3) took the loss.

Florida 11, Philadelphia 5--Greg Colbrunn homered and drove in three runs at Philadelphia and Pat Rapp won for the first time in over a month.

Rapp (7-16), who had lost his last four starts and hadn’t won since Aug. 10, has more losses than any pitcher in the National League.