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Bonds hits No. 760 in comeback win

Aug 19, 2007 - 5:12 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- In just one night, Barry Bonds experienced the ecstasy and agony of the game of baseball.

Bonds belted a go-ahead two-run homer - No. 760 of his career - to propel the San Francisco Giants to a 4-3 victory over the Florida Marlins on Saturday.

With the two-run shot in the fifth off Rick VandenHurk (3-4), Bonds extended his lead over former home run champion Hank Aaron to five.

Bonds also hit homer No. 754 against VandenHurk on July 27. The blast was his second in three games and his sixth this month, two more than he hit in each of the last three months.

"He's going to hit those mistakes out," VandenHurk said. "I threw it in and it crept back over the plate. You can't do that with him, obviously, he hit it out."

"It put us on top and it held up," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said.

However, the seven-time National League MVP struck out in each of his other three at-bats, marking the first time since June 18, 2006 that Bonds has struck out three times in a single contest.

Matt Cain (5-13) took it from there, winning for the second time in three contests following a stretch in which he dropped eight of nine decisions. The 22-year-old righthander yielded three runs and six hits with seven strikeouts over seven frames.

"Cain has been pitching great for us all year long," Bonds said. "We haven't been able to score any runs for him. We finally got a situation where we did score some runs for him. We haven't been able to do that for him in a long time. That guy would probably have 20 wins by now if half of them (losses) weren't our mistakes."

Cain said he was flabbergasted when Bonds told him he was going to hit one out for him.

"He (Bonds) came in the dugout and said, 'All right, let's get it back for him (Cain)' and I'm thinking, 'No way he just said that.' And, he was going to go up there and hit one, I knew it. It just seemed like he was getting locked in. That's awesome and he got all of it, too."

Brian Wilson pitched an uneventful eighth before turning it over to closer Brad Hennessey, who used a game-ending double play to post his 11th save in 13 chances.

Jeremy Hermida was moving off of third when Alfredo Amezaga lined a ball right to second baseman Rich Aurilia, who threw back to Pedro Feliz at third.

"It's one of those unfortunate things that can happen when you go on contact," Hermida said. "As soon as he hits that ball, I've got to take off. It's just one of those freak things that happen."

Ryan Klesko finished with two hits and scored twice for the Giants, who improved to 44-24 when they scored at least four runs.

"We got a break there," Bochy said. "A line-drive double play (to end the game). We haven't gotten a lot of breaks this year, no getting around that. Tonight, we did and Cain settled down and gave us seven solid innings. Of course, Barry (Bonds) hit a huge home run."

The Giants, who tied a season-high with their third straight win on the road, are still only 11-13 when Bonds homers.

VandenHurk surrendered four runs and seven hits over 5 2/3 innings to record his second straight loss and extend his winless streak to six.

Hanley Ramirez and Mike Jacobs each homered for the Marlins, who have dropped four straight contests.