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Bonds ties NL home run record in Giants' loss to Brewers

Sep 23, 2006 - 3:50 AM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- While it doesn't have the appeal of 755, Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron do finally stand alone in one sense.

Bonds tied Aaron's National League home run record in the San Francisco Giants' wild 13-12 defeat to the Milwaukee Brewers.

With two outs in the sixth inning, Bonds sent a 2-0 pitch from Chris Spurling just over the center field wall for a three-run homer, giving San Francisco an 11-10 lead. It was the NL record-tying 733rd career blast for Bonds, who still sits 22 homers behind Aaron's major league record.

"It's special to me," Bonds said. "It's the National League, it's the only league I have been in. It's a new ballpark here, but it would have been cool to hit it in the old one (Milwaukee County Stadium) because that's where (Aaron) got to play."

Bonds finished 3-for-5 with a season-high six RBI. The seven-time NL MVP had a two-run double in the first inning and an RBI two-base hit in the fifth to pass Rafael Palmeiro for 14th place on the all-time doubles list. His sixth-inning blast gave him a whopping 17 seasons with 25 homers and made Spurling the 433rd victim of his illustrious career.

"I feel better," Bonds said. "My legs feel better, my knee obviously is doing a lot better. I am overcoming the (knee) surgeries. Now if I can fix my elbow, I will be OK."

Despite Bonds' stellar performance, San Francisco (75-78) lost for the seventh time in nine games to fall 5 1/2 games off the wild card pace.

"All I want to do is go home," Bonds said. "After this season, I want to go and watch my son's football games or pray that these teams (in front of the Giants) lose and we are still in it."

Ray Durham's solo shot off Brian Shouse in the eighth gave the Giants a 12-10 edge. But the Brewers rallied in the bottom half, tying the game on a clutch two-out RBI single by Bill Hall against Vinnie Chulk (0-3).

Later in the inning with the bases loaded, David Bell hit a grounder to the right of shortstop Omar Vizquel, whose throw to second came just barely after a hustling Jeff Cirillo slid in safely.

"We are still playing for pride," said Hall, who also had a two-run single in the first inning. "This is our last homestand of the year. Some guys are battling for next year and this is their audition for a spot at spring training."

Jose Capellan (3-2) recorded the final out of the eighth to notch the victory. Francisco Cordero worked around a leadoff baserunner in the bottom half for his 14th save in as many chances since joining Milwaukee.

Hall, Kevin Mench and Mike Rivera drove in three runs apiece for the Brewers, who have won three straight games for the first time since August 22-24. But even after his team's emotional victory, Hall continued to show his admiration for Bonds and his contribution to baseball over the last two decades.

"It's a big accomplishment for (Bonds)," Hall said. "What he's done for this game is unbelievable. Not a lot of guys can do what he's done. He is setting an example for the youngsters, guys like (Philadelphia slugger) Ryan Howard and myself. What he has done, it's great to actually see it in person."