SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds' 599th homer wasn't even the most exciting part of a wild victory for the San Francisco Giants. <br>
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Bonds moved to the doorstep of the exclusive 600-homer club with an early three-run shot, and the Giants scored three runs in the eighth to beat the Chicago Cubs 11-10 Tuesday night. <br>
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Bonds drove in four runs, and his 432-foot drive into right-center field in the third inning moved him within one homer of joining Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays with 600. <br>
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Aside from the latest demonstration of Bonds' pure power, however, nothing about the game looked familiar. <br>
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After Chicago rallied from two big early deficits to take a late lead, San Francisco won it with an eighth-inning comeback - and a frantic ninth-inning stand that included the ejection of Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who appeared to threaten plate umpire Justin Klemm with his bat after a called third strike. <br>
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The fireworks finally ended when Robb Nen got Joe Girardi to ground into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded. <br>
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Though Nen made it as difficult as possible, he earned his 300th save - becoming the youngest player to reach the mark at age 32. <br>
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Down 9-8, the Giants loaded the bases in the ninth against Kyle Farnsworth (3-4). Jeff Kent hit a hard grounder to Bill Mueller, and as David Bell scored the tying run, Mueller - the former Giants third baseman - threw wildly past first baseman Fred McGriff for an error that allowed J.T. Snow and Kenny Lofton to score as well. <br>
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Tim Worrell (8-1) worked the eighth for the victory. <br>
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Down 11-9, the Cubs - who rallied from 4-0 and 7-4 deficits earlier in the evening - weren't done. Sammy Sosa singled and scored on Moises Alou's single off Nen, and Corey Patterson's double sent Alou to third. <br>
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The bases were loaded when Nen struck out Gonzalez, who didn't immediately realize it was his third strike. He began a vehement argument with Klemm, and he pointed his bat in Klemm's direction after Cubs manager Bruce Kimm was holding him back. <br>
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The late-inning theatrics came on another historic night for Bonds, who also had an RBI double in the first. <br>
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Camera flashes sparkled all over Pacific Bell Park on each pitch of his three at-bats following the homer, but he struck out looking in the fifth, walked in the seventh and was intentionally walked in the eighth. <br>
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Fred McGriff hit an early three-run homer for the Cubs, tying Ellis Burks' three-day-old record by going deep in his 41st major league ballpark. The Cubs, who opened a six-game road trip, went up 9-7 with three runs in the seventh, including a go-ahead sacrifice fly by Alou. <br>
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Bonds homered off Cubs rookie Steve Smyth (0-1), whose major league debut was forgettable. He was rocked for six hits and seven runs in three innings as the rest of the Giants followed Bonds' lead. <br>
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In the first inning alone, Smyth yielded a leadoff triple by Lofton, a sacrifice fly by Rich Aurilia, a single by Kent and a long RBI double by Bonds, who easily would have turned it into a triple if he wasn't slowed by a hamstring injury. After an out, Reggie Sanders homered to right. <br>
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In the third, Aurilia singled and Kent walked to set up Bonds, who hammered a 1-2 pitch into one of Pac Bell's deepest reaches. Bonds stood in the batter's box to admire his drive, then slowly circled the bases. He gave a curtain call to the sellout crowd moments later. <br>
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Giants rookie Ryan Jensen wasn't sharp, either. He yielded eight hits and six runs in six innings, though he struck out six. <br>
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Sosa hit an RBI double during the Cubs' four-run third, and Mueller added a run-scoring double in the fourth. <br>
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NOTES: It was Bonds' 43rd intentional walk this season. He's two behind the major league record for one season. ... Bobby Bonds clapped and cheered for his son from a seat in a luxury suite. Last month, he had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his kidney. ... Actor Andy Garcia watched from the stands. ... McGriff didn't need much time to catch Burks, who homered at Seattle's Safeco Field on Saturday. McGriff still hasn't homered in Arizona or Pittsburgh's new park. The Cubs visit Phoenix Aug. 23-25, and they'll be at PNC Park Sept. 20-22. ... Aurilia struck out with the bases loaded in the eighth, but he argued vehemently that time had been called before the pitch. Manager Dusty Baker also came on the field for the argument.
