LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) — At this rate, Barry Bonds will break his own home-run record this year.
Bonds homered twice and drove in five runs Tuesday to lead the San Francisco Giants to a season-opening 9-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After hitting 73 homers last year to topple the record set by Mark McGwire in 1998, Bonds hit a two-out, three-run shot off Kevin Brown on his second swing of the season, a drive that capped a five-run second inning.
Bonds had an RBI single off Brown in the fourth, then sent a 1-1 pitch from Omar Daal just inside the right-field foul pole in the seventh, becoming the 10th player to reach the loge level at Dodger Stadium.
The home runs gave Bonds five on Opening Day and 569 overall, moving four behind Harmon Killebrew, who ranks sixth on baseball’s career list. Bonds has 57 multihomer games, including 10 last season, and is fifth in the category. He became the 25th player to homer twice on Opening Day.
Bonds, who popped to second on Brown’s first pitch in the opening inning, took a called strike before hitting an 0-1 pitch into the left-field stands in the second.
Bonds, who came out of the game after hitting his second homer, ended last season by hitting his final three against the Dodgers at Pacific Bell Park including No. 73 off knuckleballer Dennis Springer in the final game.
Livan Hernandez, making his third straight Opening Day start for the Giants, won by allowing both runs and four hits in eight innings. Hernandez, who retired 14 straight batters before Mark Grudzielanek singled to start the eighth, also had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run.
Brown, making his first start since surgery on his right elbow Sept. 27, was battered for seven runs and nine hits in four innings. Brown, 3-3 in seven Opening Day starts, had been 8-1 with a 1.86 ERA against the Giants.
Hernandez and Rich Aurilia had RBI singles in the second before Bonds hit his first homer, and Benito Santiago had a run-scoring single in the seventh, after Bonds’ second homer.
Los Angeles took a 1-0 lead in the first when new leadoff batter Dave Roberts singled, stole second, took third on Cesar Izturis’ sacrifice and scored on Paul Lo Duca’s groundout.
David Bell, playing his first game for the Giants, hit a solo homer in the third to make it 6-1.
The Dodgers got a run in their half when Roberts doubled, took third on a bunt single by Izturis and scored while Lo Duca was grounding into a double play.
The Giants played without cleanup hitter Jeff Kent, who began the season on the disabled list because of a broken left wrist. Kent is expected to be activated and play Saturday after missing four games.
Game notes
Bonds has two homers in 34 at-bats against Brown . . . The game was played before a sellout crowd of 53,356 . . . Hernandez had 24 hits, batted .300 and drove in eight runs last season . . . The Giants are 28-17 and the Dodgers 24-21 in season-openers since the teams moved to California before the 1958 season . . . The Giants are 5-2 against the Dodgers in seven season-openers between the teams since 1958 and 14-12-1 in openers against each other since 1900 . . . Peter O’Malley, who succeeded his father, Walter, as president of the Dodgers in 1970 and held the post until selling the team to the Fox Group in 1998, threw out the ceremonial first pitch . . . When Dodger Stadium opened nearly 40 years ago — April 10, 1962 — it was Peter’s mother and Walter’s wife, Kay, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch . . .Blues artist Patti LaBelle sang the national anthem.
