Bonds Hits 25th in Giant Victory

Barry Bonds hit his major league-leading 25th home run Thursday night to help the San Francisco Giants to a 5-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies at San Francisco.

Bonds’ solo shot against John Thomson (0-3) in the third inning sailed over the right-field wall into McCovey Cove, where it was retrieved by a kayaker who dived out of his boat.

Bonds has 519 homers, two behind Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for 11th place on the all-time list.

The Giant star hit nine homers in six games, including three Saturday night against the Atlanta Braves, before failing to connect Wednesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Shawn Estes (4-2), activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game, gave up only one run on two hits over eight innings. He struck out four and walked one.

The left-hander was sidelined because of tendinitis in his shoulder that flared up just before a May 13 start against the New York Mets.

Thomson, who has lost all three of his starts this season, gave up five runs on six hits in six innings.

A day after Manager Dusty Baker flip-flopped Jeff Kent and Bonds in the lineup, Bonds was back in his usual No. 3 spot, followed by Kent. Baker said he wouldn’t rule out another shuffle, depending on the opponent.

Kent’s home run in the first inning scored Bonds, who walked and stole second. Benito Santiago’s double-play grounder scored Russ Davis in the second inning to give the Giants a 3-0 lead.

Armando Rios added a solo home run into the seats atop the right-field wall in the fourth inning.

The Rockies scored in the third when center fielder Marvin Benard misjudged Ben Petrick’s triple.

Chicago 3, Cincinnati 0--Jon Lieber pitched a one-hitter at Chicago, handing the Reds their first shutout in almost two years.

Gary Matthews Jr. hit a home run and drove in another run to back Lieber, and Sammy Sosa had a run-scoring single in his first at-bat after sitting out two games because of tightness in his lower back.

It ended the Reds’ streak without a shutout at a National League-record 208 games. The last time Cincinnati failed to score was Oct. 4, 1999, when Al Leiter’s two-hitter led the New York Mets to a 5-0 victory in the National League wild-card tiebreaker playoff.

Only the New York Yankees (308 games from 1931-33) and the Milwaukee Brewers (212 games, 1978-79) went longer without being shut out.

Lieber (4-3), whose previous best was a two-hit complete game, gave up only a sixth-inning single. He threw 79 pitches, 55 for strikes, and walked one. He struck out two.

New York 11, Florida 3--Kevin Appier pitched seven strong innings, Darren Bragg went four for five with three runs scored and Robin Ventura had four runs batted in for the Mets at New York.

Appier (3-5), who stopped his four-game losing streak, also helped the Mets at the plate, sparking two rallies to help New York win for the fifth time in seven games.

Appier, an .067 hitter in 30 career at-bats coming in, led off a three-run third inning with a single and was hit by a pitch from A.J. Burnett (2-2) to start a four-run fifth.

The Marlins, who entered second in the league in fielding, dropped three fly balls, leading to four unearned runs.

Philadelphia 6, Pittsburgh 5--Bobby Abreu singled to break a seventh-inning tie as the Phillies rallied to complete a three-game sweep at Philadelphia.

Jimmy Rollins was four for four with a solo homer and a triple to make him nine for 13 in the series.

The Phillies, who have six of seven, swept three games from the Pirates for the first time since July 10-12, 1998. Pittsburgh has lost 13 of 16.

St. Louis 7, Milwaukee 4--Mike Matthews gave up three hits in six innings at Milwaukee for his first victory as a starter.

Matthews (2-0), making only the second start of his career after 27 relief appearances, gave up three runs on two homers by Richie Sexson.

Matthews struck out a career-high six and walked one.

Ben Sheets (4-4) gave up five runs, eight hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings. After a four-game winning streak, he has not made it out of the fourth inning in his last two starts.