Instead of continuing his chase to make history, Barry Bonds figured he was history when the San Diego Padres brought in left-hander Chuck McElroy to face him Saturday. He figured his chance to do any damage was gone.
Later he was asked what he was thinking. “My day was over, to be honest with you,” he said.
Not this time. While McElroy has been Bonds’ biggest nemesis, even he couldn’t get him. The well-traveled reliever tried to throw a 2-1 fastball off the plate, but the ball slid back into reach. Bonds lined it over the right-field wall and into McCovey Cove for his 69th homer.
“He’s always given me problems, always pitched me well,” Bonds said of McElroy, against whom he was 2-for-32 with one homer. “Even when he makes a mistake, I haven’t been able to take advantage of it. Right now everything’s working right.”
Bonds’ sixth-inning homer broke a 1-1 tie and carried the Giants to a 3-1 victory before a flag-waving crowd of 41,383 at Pacific Bell Park. It was his second home run of the series, fifth in six games and 563rd of his career, which ties Reggie Jackson for seventh all time.
In Bonds’ first chance to tie Mark McGwire’s record of 70, he grounded out against rookie left-hander Jose Nunez in the eighth inning. He has seven games remaining.
The Padres’ Rickey Henderson collected his 2,997th career hit but didn’t score, remaining one run behind Ty Cobb’s career record of 2,245.
