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Bonds, Giants take second straight vs. Yankees

Jun 25, 2007 - 1:59 AM SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Barry Bonds did not show off his power against the New York Yankees. But the legendary slugger had everything else on display.

Bonds was on base four times and Noah Lowry pitched 5 2/3 effective innings for the San Francisco Giants, who posted a 7-2 victory against the Yankees on Sunday in the finale of their three-game set at AT&T Park.

Ray Durham drove in two runs for the Giants, who won their second straight contest after snapping an eight-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon.

Bonds smacked a single, drew a pair of walks and got hit by a pitch. He drew one of his free passes against veteran Yankees hurler Roger Clemens, who was making his second career relief appearance and first since July 12, 1984.

A seven-time MVP, Bonds added a rare stolen base and scored two runs. The steal tied Bonds with his father, Bobby, for San Francisco's career stolen base record at 263.

"Barry, he felt great today, stole a base, sac fly was not very deep but made up his mind he was going for it," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. "The club needed it at that point, and I thought he really ignited the whole club with his base-running."

"In this series, Barry Bonds showed he was more than a home run hitter," New York manager Joe Torre said. "He has a lot more abilities than just the ability to hit home runs."

Clemens, who was up in the bullpen throwing yesterday, volunteered once again today Torre took him up on the offer.

"This was his throw day, and he told us he could give us 50 pitches, and I would take 20. He had no problem with it. He wanted to go out for the eighth, but we wouldn't let him," Torre said.

The veteran hurler said he tried to do what he could for his teammates. He also said he remembers trading Texas and Arizona State gear with Bonds during their college days.

"Watching the last couple days, any chance to give the bullpen guys a chance to rest, they've been taxed," Clemens said. "Special moment with Barry and I. I'll be watching him when he breaks the record."

The Giants held on thanks to Lowry (7-6), who was far from sharp but came up big when it mattered most. Facing Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez, who leads the league in homers, Lowry retired the slugger in an 11-pitch at-bat with the bases loaded in the sixth.

Trailing, 3-0, New York did get on the board when Rodriguez drove in a run on a fielder's choice in the at-bat, but that was all.

"I was just really trying to stay down in the zone and mix in and out," Lowry said. "I really just didn't want to leave anything up and out over for him to hit because, as we all know, he's a great hitter. I was trying to get a ground ball and got what we wanted."

After rookie Chris Basak lined out to left, Melky Cabrera walked, Miguel Cairo singled and Derek Jeter walked to load the bases.

But Rodriguez was out in front of Lowry's changeup - grounding to third - and barely beating Durham's relay throw to first to avoid an inning-ending double-play.

Lowry then was replaced by rookie Jonathan Sanchez, who got Hideki Matsui to ground out sharply to Ryan Klesko to end the threat.

"It was great to see," Klesko said. "It seemed like he lost command for a few batters there, but when A-Rod stepped to the plate, he made some big pitches there. That was a big turning point in the game right there."

Reversing a season-long trend, the Giants started the scoring with two runs in the second.

Bonds started it off with a single and a stolen base and scored on a sacrifice fly by Pedro Feliz.

Guillermo Rodriguez's double then gave the Giants a 2-0 lead.

San Francisco missed a big opportunity in the third. With two on and two outs, Bonds drew an intentional walk to load the bases for Klesko, who struck out swinging in a seven-pitch battle against New York starter Mike Mussina (3-5).

The Giants scratched an unearned run in the fourth. Nate Schierholtz sent a bloop single into shallow left, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Wil Nieves.

A safety squeeze by Lowry then made it 3-0.

Lowry allowed one run, two hits, and five walks while striking out two.

Jeter went 0-for-3 with a walk, snapping his 17-game hitting streak as the Yankees have now lost back-to-back series against National League West opponents.

"It's tough to explain," Jeter said. "We need to swing the bats. Our offense has been inconsistent and that puts a lot of pressure on the pitching. We had three hits going into the eighth. You're not going to win a whole lot of those games."

With the loss to Lowry and the Giants, New York falls to 1-9 on the road against lefthanded starters this season.

"It was ugly," Torre said. "Moose just didn't seem to be locating, and he was frustrated because he thought he had some strikes in there and there could have been. Coming out here and losing five out of six is very tough. We're going to have to keep fighting and come back on Tuesday."

Mussina tossed five innings, allowing three runs - two earned - and five hits, striking out five and walking two.

"I thought I pitched a little better than it turned out," Mussina said. "The zone was really tight. The game kind of went along, and nothing good was happening on defense and on offense. We haven't played consistently since we've been here (on the road trip). Some days you struggle and you can't mount anything. We have to play better."