• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Bonds looks to haunt archrivals once again

Jul 31, 2007 - 2:49 PM San Francisco (45-58) at LA Dodgers (57-48) 10:10 pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) - Barry Bonds is just one home run short of tying one of baseball's most hallowed records. On Tuesday, he'll get a chance to hit No. 755 against his archrivals as the San Francisco Giants kick off a three-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Bonds went 1-for-4 with a single on Sunday in an 8-5 loss to Florida, leaving him with the opportunity to hit the record-tying blast against the Dodgers, a team that he has homered 64 times against. That total is second only behind the 86 home runs he has hit against the San Diego Padres.

The seven-time MVP is hitting .280 (7-for-25) over his career against Brad Penny (13-1, 2.51 ERA), who is having a record-breaking season in his own right. The righthander is 12-0 in 18 starts against the National League.

Penny is already the first Los Angeles Dodger to start the season 13-1. With a win against San Francisco, he would become the first pitcher in franchise history to go 14-1 since Phil Regan accomplished the feat in 1966. In 14 career starts and a relief appearance against the Giants, Penny is 3-2 with a 3.59 ERA.

The two-time All-Star gave his teammates a scare in his last outing on Wednesday after he strained his abdomen legging out an infield single in a 5-4 win over Colorado. He yielded three runs and five hits over six frames, extending his unbeaten streak to 12 games.

Trying to stop Penny's run of success will be Noah Lowry (11-7, 3.40), who has been the Giants' most consistent and most successful pitcher all season, as he has yet to have a losing record in any month despite playing for the last-place Giants. The lefthander is the only pitcher with at least 11 wins that is on a team with a sub-.500 record.

Lowry has won five of his last six starts, including Wednesday's 2-1 win over Atlanta in which he permitted just one run and seven hits over eight innings. He has enjoyed a relative amount of success against Los Angeles in 10 lifetime starts and two relief outings, going 3-2 with a 3.33 ERA.