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Bonds resumes home run chase in series finale

Jul 5, 2007 - 2:32 PM San Francisco (36-46) at Cincinnati (32-52) 7:10 pm EDT

CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Given the holiday off to rest his knee and admire his most recent accomplishment, Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants go for the series win against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday.

Bonds was given his usual day off after a night game on Wednesday, one day after crushing homer No. 751 against Reds ace Aaron Harang. The lefthanded slugger will likely resume his case of Hank Aaron's 755 against struggling Cincinnati starter Bronson Arroyo, a pitcher Bonds does not have a hit off in five at-bats.

Arroyo (2-9, 4.89 ERA), who despite his success against Bonds, has not fared well against San Francisco, going 1-3 with a 4.62 ERA in four starts and one relief appearance over his career. His lone win against the Giants came in his last outing against last September 5, in which he tossed a three-hit shutout.

The righthander had a solid turn in his last outing on Friday, yielding one run and six hits over seven innings in a 4-2 loss to St. Louis, but did not factor into the decision as the bullpen could not hold a late lead. Before that start, however, he was 0-5 with a 9.45 ERA over his last seven outings.

His opponent will be Matt Morris (7-4, 3.25), who will be looking for his first win in four starts. He has had a fair amount of success over his 21 lifetime appearances - 19 starts - against the Reds, as he is 8-5 with a 3.85 ERA.

After allowing more than seven hits in a start just three times in his first 13 starts, the righthander has surrendered nine-plus in each of his last three, contributing to his ERA rising from 2.56 it was on June 11 to the 3.25 mark it is currently at prior to this start.

In one of those recent outings on Friday, Morris permitted three runs - but just one earned - and 10 hits over seven frames in a 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Diamondbacks.

While his home run chase is taking a back seat to Bonds', Ken Griffey Jr. is one homer away from tying Frank Robinson for sixth all-time at 586.