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Bonds hits No. 757 in Giants win

Aug 9, 2007 - 8:00 AM SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- So much for the possible lingering effects of a home run hangover for the new record holder.

Barry Bonds gave the fans who could not be at AT&T Park on Tuesday a chance to witness more magic one night later, as he homered in his first at-bat as the San Francisco Giants posted a 5-0 victory over the Washington Nationals.

One night after snapping a tie with Hank Aaron for the all-time home run mark, Bonds sent a first-inning 1-1 pitch from Nationals starter Tim Redding an estimated 438 feet deep into McCovey Cove for home run No. 757 and a quick 2-0 lead.

"I don't know how he feels, how his body feels or what, but he turned on that ball tonight as good as he ever has against us," Nationals catcher Brian Schneider said. "That's a mid-90 fastball inside and he just turned on a dime.

"That's what Barry's done his whole career. That's not the first time he's hit a fastball in. That was the first time we pitched him in there and he took it out and that's what makes him so special."

It was the second splash hit of the season for Bonds and the first since April 18 against St. Louis. Since the ballpark opened for the 2000 season, Bonds has deposited 35 into the bay.

"It feels like it's a little more relaxed once this thing has gotten out of the way a little bit," said Matt Cain, who pitched six scoreless innings for the win. "I think Barry's relaxed a little bit more too and all of us have been waiting to get it out of the way and I think it will help us out a ton. That's cool that he's going to keep it going. We'll see how long it goes and see what happens after the season."

The 43-year-old Home Run King finished the evening 1-for-2 with a walk before leaving for a defensive replacement in the seventh.

Magic was not the exclusive territory of Bonds on Wednesday. San Francisco starter Matt Cain hammered his first career home run in the fifth.

A stunned Cain almost forgot to turn at first base as he was following the trajectory of the ball as it headed for the bleachers in left. The Giants broadcast crew immediately took the opportunity to joke with the young righthander as cameras panned to Bonds' 757 home run sign and wrote Cain's name with the tele-strator with the No. 1 next to it.

Cain took plenty of good natured ribbing in the dugout and in the clubhouse, especially after it appeared he may have missed a base during his inaugural home run trot.

"Come on, be nice about the base," Cain joked. "If you haven't noticed, I've only been near it once."

On the mound, Cain (4-12) was no slouch, yielding three hits and a walk with three strikeouts in winning for the first time since July 4 and second time since May 13. He threw 109 pitches - 73 for strikes.

"He was tough on us," Washington manager Manny Acta said. "He has one of the best arms in the National League and he showed it tonight. We tried to run his pitch count and we did a little bit, but we still couldn't do anything."

Bonds and Cain helped San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy to his 1,000th career win.

"Great win, tough loss last night," Bochy said. "Cain did it all, pitched great. As far as 1,000 wins, that just means I've had the good fortune to be around this long to get this opportunity. (To) be honest, I wish we were talking about this a month ago.

"It's cool to be a part of that, and to know I pitched in that game," Cain said. "It would have been really cool if I had been the pitcher that had been in the game like Zito yesterday was a part of 756 and it was cool that I was a part of his 1000th win."

Redding (1-3) allowed four runs and six hits in seven innings.

"Poor effort," Redding said. "I was struggling with location today. It wasn't as around the plate as I was my previous six starts. That's what happens when you fall behind."

Dmitri Young, who left the game with left hamstring tightness, is listed as day-to-day and will not be in the starting lineup on a scheduled day off on Thursday. Young is expected to return to the lineup for the weekend.