SAN FRANCISCO - With yet another big splash by Barry Bonds, the San Francisco Giants surged into the playoffs. <br>
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Bonds' 613th career homer landed in the waters of McCovey Cove as the Giants clinched the wild card, beating the Houston Astros 5-2 Saturday for their seventh straight victory. <br>
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Though San Francisco lost the NL West title to Arizona by virtue of the Diamondbacks' 17-8 win over Colorado, Bonds and his teammates are headed to the postseason for the second time in Pacific Bell Park's three seasons of existence. <br>
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With their victory, the Giants (94-66) eliminated the Los Angeles Dodgers (92-69). <br>
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Pinch-hitter Tom Goodwin added a two-run double in the seventh as a sellout crowd cheered San Francisco into a first-round meeting with NL East champion Atlanta, starting Wednesday at Turner Field. <br>
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Bonds' tiebreaking 438-foot homer off rookie left-hander Jeriome Robertson (0-2) in the fifth - his 46th this season - easily cleared the arcade atop the right-field fence and landed among several kayakers and canoeists. Bonds hit 20 of the 26 homers that have landed in the water since the park opened. <br>
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Bonds, who also drove in a run with a first-inning grounder, will become a first-time batting champion at 38 this season. <br>
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After Bonds put the Giants ahead, seven relievers pitched four scoreless innings to finish the victory for Kirk Rueter (14-8). Robb Nen got his 43rd save in 51 chances. <br>
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Jeff Bagwell and rookie Jason Lane homered for the Astros, who lost for the third time in four games. Struggling rookie starter Kirk Saarloos lasted just 2 1-3 innings, walking four. <br>
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The Giants went up 2-0 in the third when Jeff Kent led off with a triple. Bonds and J.T. Snow were walked by Saarloos, and reliever Brandon Puffer hit Reggie Sanders with his first pitch, sending Kent home. <br>
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But San Francisco stranded six runners in the first three innings, and the Astros tied it in the fourth on homers by Bagwell - the 31st in his least productive season since 1995 - and Lane, a San Francisco Bay area native playing in front of his home fans for the first time. <br>
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Rueter allowed five hits and didn't walk a batter, but manager Dusty Baker lifted him in the fifth for pinch-hitter Damon Minor, who struck out with two runners on and two outs. Rueter threw just 83 pitches. <br>
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But the Giants' relievers navigated the Astros' dangerous lineup, with Scott Eyre getting Orlando Merced to fly out with the bases loaded in the eighth. <br>
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Goodwin doubled up the middle against Flash Gordon in the seventh, scoring Benito Santiago and J.T. Snow with insurance runs. <br>
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NOTES: Sixteen pitchers were used, a major league record for a nine-inning game. The previous mark of 15 was set by Detroit and Minnesota on Oct. 1, 2000... Bonds also walked in the third and eighth innings to extend his NL record of 18 straight games with a walk; he has 198 walks this season, already a major league record. ... Gordon struck out Bonds looking in the seventh. Bonds has struck out just 47 times all season. ... Rueter pitched more than 200 innings this season for the first time in his career. ... Giants LHP Troy Brohawn, who hadn't pitched since Sept. 11, got Lance Berkman to fly out to the warning track in the sixth. Berkman, who's trying to hold off St. Louis' Albert Pujols in the NL's RBI race, went 0-for-4. Berkman has 128 RBIs to Pujols' 127.
