Bonds' biggest day is coming up

SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds has another chance for his first happy ending in the postseason.<br> <br> Ten years after slow-footed Sid Bream outran Bonds&#39; throw to home plate in Atlanta, the San Francisco slugger is headed back to the Deep South following the Giants&#39; 8-3 victory over the Braves on Sunday night.<br> <br> Bonds, the fourth-leading home run hitter in baseball history, is defined nearly as much by his playoff failures - and those of his teams, who have never won a postseason series in the five tries - as his regular-season excellence.<br> <br> He contributed a sacrifice fly as the Giants ensured a deciding Game 5 at Turner Field on Monday night. Now, the Giants are headed back to Atlanta, the site of perhaps his defining postseason moment so far.<br> <br> When he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1992, Bonds didn&#39;t get his throw home in time to stop Bream from scoring on Francisco Cabrera&#39;s ninth-inning single as the Braves advanced to the World Series.<br> <br> Bonds actually hit fairly well in that series, going 6-for-23 with his only postseason homer before this season. He has nine RBIs in 31 career postseason games.<br> <br> Bonds went 0-for-3 at Pacific Bell Park on Sunday to drop his career postseason average to .198 (22-for-111), though he drove in a run in the first inning. He has hit two of his three career playoff homers in this series while going 3-for-14, but neither shot made any difference to the results of the games in which he hit them.<br> <br> &#34;The games have been lopsided,&#34; Bonds said. &#34;There haven&#39;t been any close games. We don&#39;t want it to be their turn.&#34;<br> <br> The Braves will send Kevin Millwood to the mound in Game 5. Bonds didn&#39;t get a hit against the right-hander in Game 2, though he hit a massive homer against closer John Smoltz in the ninth inning.<br> <br> San Francisco hasn&#39;t won a playoff series in Bonds&#39; 10 seasons with the club. This victory was the first for the franchise in six tries when facing postseason elimination since the 1971 NL championship series.<br> <br> Bonds, making his sixth postseason appearance in a 17-season career, was only a minor character in the Giants&#39; latest victory. Big games from Rich Aurilia and Kenny Lofton - as well as a phenomenal start by Livan Hernandez - saved him from the spotlight.<br> <br> &#34;We&#39;re playing good, but it&#39;s not over,&#34; Bonds said. &#34;We&#39;re not surprised (by Hernandez). He&#39;s one of our guys. We win together.&#34;<br>

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