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Bonds homers but Tulowitzki, Rockies edge Giants

May 28, 2007 - 1:18 AM SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Barry Bonds inched closer to Hank Aaron, but Troy Tulowitzki helped the Colorado Rockies inch closer to a winning record.

Tulowitzki ripped an RBI single to plate the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and lead the red-hot Rockies to a 6-4 triumph over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday afternoon.

It was the season-high fifth straight victory for Colorado, which recorded the franchise's first three-game series sweep in San Francisco.

"This is a place that hasn't been friendly to us," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "We were able to back up a good first series on the road in Arizona with a better one here. Now our focus is to go have a good homestand."

"To sweep the series is special for our team and special for me because I grew up hating the Giants," Tulowitzki said. "It's extra special to do it here since I grew up in the area (Sunnyvale)."

The Rockies' late heroics overshadowed a momentous day for Bonds, who continued his pursuit of Aaron's all-time home run record by hitting his 746th career blast in the sixth inning.

It was the first homer in 15 games for Bonds, who climbed within nine homers of tying Aaron's mark of 755. The 42-year-old Bonds had not homered since May 8 against the New York Mets.

"You do the little things that win games is the most important things," Bonds said. "It's not about how many hits you got or average or anything like that. The whole team can hit .250, but if we get key hits in the right situations that's what wins games. It's runs that win games."

"If you get discouraged when Bonds hits a homer, there'd be a whole lot of guys walking around with their bottom lip out," Hurdle said. "His discipline is incredible. He doesn't chase anything. He swings at strikes. There's not too many guys that could have hit that ball out in the conditions today."

However, the day ultimately belonged to the Rockies, who squandered an early three-run lead only to rally for two runs in the 10th frame.

Todd Helton led off the decisive inning with a hit against Giants lefthander Steve Kline (0-1), who was promptly replaced by righthander Brad Hennessey. After pinch-runner Kazuo Matsui advanced to second on a passed ball, Garrett Atkins flied out to the warning track in center field.

But the long flyout only momentarily halted Colorado's attack, as Matsui scored the go-ahead run on the RBI single by Tulowitzki, who advanced to second on right fielder Fred Lewis' throw to the plate.

Chris Iannetta added a crucial insurance run with a line-drive double off Lewis' glove, allowing Tulowitzki to score and pushing the lead to 6-4.

The two-run cushion proved to be enough for closer Brian Fuentes, who walked Bonds with two outs before retiring Bengie Molina on a flyout to record his 15th save.

Righthander Ramon Ramirez (2-1) worked a scoreless ninth inning to pick up the win and Helton matched a season high with four hits for the Rockies (23-27), who posted their first five-game road winning streak since August 2004.

"When you win five games, I don't care how you do it," Helton said. "We just played good baseball. We got good pitching, the bullpen has been throwing the ball well and we had some timely hitting. That's how you win games."

"It's a tough one," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. "We lost a couple tough ones here this series. Barry got us back in the ballgame. Bengie came through again. We had a couple chances after that. We're just missing one more hit."

San Francisco trailed, 4-1, in the sixth inning when Bonds finally ended his homerless drought, snapping a string of 43 at-bats without a homer. The seven-time MVP blasted starter Taylor Buchholz's 2-1 offering over the wall in center field for his 12th homer of the season, drawing the Giants within 4-3.

After Bonds drew a two-out walk in the eighth, Molina tapped an RBI double down the right-field line to forge a 4-4 tie.

"Regardless of the game, we ended up tying the ballgame, and Molina's been clutch for us with two outs," Bonds said. "It's just phenomenal to watch. We just couldn't hold on. That's just it. We didn't hold on."

Giants starter Noah Lowry struggled, yielding four runs, seven hits and three walks with four strikeouts in four-plus innings.

Buchholz worked seven frames, allowing three runs and six hits. The righthander did not walk a batter and struck out five.