Lee hits three homers; Bonds gets two against Pirates

 

Barry Bonds and Carlos Lee put on quite a show in Pennsylvania.
Bonds hit his 736th and 737th career homers before being lifted in the fourth inning of the San Francisco Giants’ 8-5 win in Pittsburgh. That wasn’t even the best performance of the night in the Keystone State as Lee clubbed three homers in the Astros’ 9-6 win at Philadelphia.
Lee hit a solo homer off Brett Myers (0-2) in the second inning, and a grand slam off him in the third. Lee connected again to straightaway center field off Ryan Madson in the ninth for his first three-homer game.
“At the beginning of the season I was trying to do too much,” said Lee, who signed a six-year, $100 million free-agent contract in the offseason. “Now I’m trying to see the ball more. All of the homers were on fastballs. I was patient enough to wait for fastballs.”
Lee had one homer and six RBIs in the first eight games.
In other NL games Friday, it was: Los Angeles 9, San Diego 1; Cincinnati 6, Chicago Cubs 5; New York Mets 3, Washington 2; Florida 11, Atlanta 4; and Colorado 6, Arizona 3. Milwaukee’s game at St. Louis was postponed because of rain.
Bonds, hitting .192 with one homer in 26 at-bats previously, hit a two-run shot down the right-field line in the second inning off Zach Duke (1-1) and a deeper solo drive into the right-center stands in the fourth off Shawn Chacon. The 42-year-old Bonds needs 19 homers to break Hank Aaron’s record.
With the Giants up 8-2 by the fourth, Bonds was lifted following his 70th career multihomer game, two short of Babe Ruth’s record of 72. Manager Bruce Bochy pulled Bonds to keep his legs fresh for the long season.
“What a day he had,” said Bochy, whose team scored only 20 runs in its first nine games. “We’ve been trying to get this offense going and that’s what we needed.”
The 42-year-old Bonds spoke to reporters at length before the game during what possibly could be his final visit to Pittsburgh, where he played from 1986-92, but did not talk afterward.
Russ Ortiz (1-1) allowed five runs and 10 hits in 8 2-3 innings to break his 12-game losing streak, which dated to an Aug. 29, 2005, victory against San Diego while with Arizona.
Morgan Ensberg also had a three-run shot for Houston, which overcame a rare erratic outing from Roy Oswalt.
Oswalt (2-0) was uncharacteristically wild, walking a career-high six batters while allowing six runs and seven hits in five innings on a chilly night.
Oswalt nearly got ejected after balking in a run in the fifth, but stayed in and struck out Jimmy Rollins to end the inning. Dan Wheeler struck out the side in the ninth for his second save.
Dodgers 9, Padres 1
At Los Angeles, Derek Lowe (2-1) pitched eight strong innings and Nomar Garciaparra hit a two-run single for the Dodgers.
Luis Gonzalez had a solo homer and an RBI single off San Diego starter David Wells (0-1). Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal, who missed the first nine games of the season with a sprained left ankle, was activated from the disabled list before the game and went 2-for-5 with two RBIs.
Wells gave up five runs and eight hits in just 2 1-3 innings.
Garciaparra had a two-run single in the fourth against Mike Thompson, snapping a season-opening streak of 29 1-3 consecutive scoreless innings by the Padres’ bullpen.
Marlins 11, Braves 4
Dontrelle Willis pitched seven innings in another sharp April start for the Marlins.
It was also the first game and victory for Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez against the Braves, where he was the third-base coach the previous four seasons.
Willis (3-0) is 12-1 with a .923 winning percentage in April. That’s the second-best career percentage in April to the 13-1, .929 of Babe Ruth, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Cody Ross, Dan Uggla, Miguel Olivo and Joe Borchard drove in two runs apiece for the visiting Marlins.
Mark Redman (0-2) allowed six hits and seven earned runs in 2 2-3 innings and Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer for Atlanta.
Reds 6, Cubs 5
Josh Hamilton, Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. had consecutive RBI hits during a six-run fifth inning for visiting Cincinnati.
Todd Coffey (1-0) earned his first victory by pitching two scoreless innings of relief and David Weathers worked the ninth for his fourth save in four chances.
Carlos Zambrano (1-2) doubled and homered and allowed just one hit through four innings for the Cubs, but failed to record an out in the fifth.
Mets 3, Nationals 2
Pinch-hitter Julio Franco singled up the middle to drive in the go-ahead run, and host New York beat Washington.
The Nationals’ John Patterson left with a 2-1 lead but Carlos Delgado hit a tying single in the sixth, Ryan Wagner (0-1) gave up the lead in the seventh and Washington (2-9) lost for the seventh time in eight games.
New York got the go-ahead run after David Wright – who earlier extended his hitting streak to 22 games – singled leading off the seventh and stole second. Franco batted for Aaron Heilman (1-1) and grounded a single with two outs.
Billy Wagner pitched the ninth for his third save.
Rockies 6, Diamondbacks 3
Brad Hawpe hit a tiebreaking two-out, two-run double in the seventh inning, and Todd Helton drove in two runs, including the 1,000th of his career for visiting Colorado.
The Rockies handed Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb his first April loss in 15 starts dating to April 17, 2004. Webb (1-1) allowed five runs and eight hits with four walks in seven innings.
Eric Byrnes drove in all three Arizona runs on an RBI single and a two-run homer.
Four Rockies relievers combined to pitch four perfect innings. Jeremy Affeldt (1-0) pitched an inning and picked up the win and Brian Fuentes finished for his second save in two chances.