Bonds blasts No. 716 as Giants blow Fish out of water

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A smiling Barry Bonds leaned way back in his clubhouse chair and rested his hands on his head, relaxed and personable after his latest home run.

The San Francisco slugger returned home and gave his fans another good show.

Bonds hit his 716th career homer Monday night with a two-run shot in the fifth inning, and Lance Niekro had a career-high four RBI in the Giants' 14-2 win over the Florida Marlins.

"I feel great. I'm having a good time," Bonds said. "I'm going to enjoy what's left."

Bonds connected for his eighth homer of the season and first since passing Babe Ruth to move into second place on the career list May 28 against Colorado. The 41-year-old Bonds is 40 homers from passing Hank Aaron's record of 755.

No. 716 flashed on the main scoreboard and fans jumped to their feet, some chanting "Barry! Barry!" Bonds raised his hands when he crossed home plate, then briefly went into the dugout before coming to the top of the steps and bringing his hands to his lips for a kiss and a wave to the crowd of 35,438.

The slugger sent an 0-1 pitch from Brian Moehler (3-5) over the wall in dead center to give the Giants an 8-1 lead. Moehler became the 422nd different pitcher to surrender a homer to Bonds, who had 14 at-bats between 715 and 716.

Bonds said he hasn't thought about the number of pitchers to give up homers to him -- or how some were children when he began playing.

"I'm just happy I've been playing for 20 years," he said. "There's pitchers I wasn't born yet when they came into the game. It kind of evens itself out."

The homer was the fifth straight hit in the inning against Moehler, who was done after Bonds' drive. Niekro had a bases-clearing triple moments before Bonds came to the plate for his third plate appearance, then Niekro hit an RBI single in the eighth. Bonds walked on six pitches in the first, flied out to right in the third and grounded out to second in the seventh before giving way to Jason Ellison in left field.

"I didn't feel like we wanted to give him a free pass, even if he's Barry," Marlins manager Joe Girardi said. "And he beat us."

Randy Winn added a two-run triple and three RBI, and Noah Lowry pitched five strong innings to end a four-start winless stretch. The Giants won for the fourth time in five games.

This Bonds homer was minus the fanfare and large media herd that had been chronicling Bonds' pursuit of the Babe.

"I get to come in and put my feet up, watch TV and get ready the way I want to get ready, talk to the guys," Bonds said. "It's a lot easier to prepare myself for the game."

Manager Felipe Alou plans to give Bonds the day off for Wednesday's day game after a night game. Alou hadn't determined the seven-time NL MVP's schedule for a weekend series against his former team, the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"A lot of people missed 716," Alou said. "Writers, microphones, cameras. ... It is a feeling some stuff is behind us. What's in front of us is we need to win games. We've been in last place in the division and need to start making a move. Barry is going to hit his homers to benefit the team."

Winn tripled in the second on a strange play in which right fielder Cody Ross crashed into the gate where outside fans can see the game. The gate opened and had to be attended to by the umpire crew.

Josh Willingham homered leading off the fourth for the Marlins, who were coming off their first ever three-game road sweep of the Rockies after taking two of three from the Giants last week in Miami.

Lowry (2-3) had won only once since coming off the disabled list, in his return May 8 against the Houston Astros. He had lost his last three outings, including a 5-3 defeat last Tuesday at Florida in which the left-hander allowed four runs and four hits.

"Hopefully we can get some momentum going," Lowry said. We're playing good baseball."

Lowry also had his first hit of the season with a single to start San Francisco's six-run fifth. After Lowry's single, Winn and Omar Vizquel followed with hits before Niekro's triple.

Winn, Vizquel and Pedro Feliz each had three hits as the Giants matched their season high with 18 hits. Lowry allowed one run and five hits, struck out one and walked one, and Brad Hennessey went four innings for his first career save.

Moehler, facing the same team in consecutive starts for the 14th time in his career, allowed eight runs and 10 hits in four innings and didn't have a strikeout. He had won his previous three decisions following a four-game losing streak and beat the Giants last Tuesday.

Game notes
The Marlins have given up 26 of Bonds' homers. ... Winn hit his fourth triple of the year and reached base in his first three plate appearances. ... Giants' RHP Jamey Wright volunteered to pitch Wednesday on three days' rest in the series finale. ... Moehler is 1-3 with an 8.59 ERA in six 2006 road outings. ... Florida defensive replacement Joe Borchard made his first career appearance at 1B. ... The Giants optioned INF Kevin Frandsen to Triple-A Fresno after the game to make room on the roster for Moises Alou's return from the DL on Tuesday.