Bonds Blasts 3 at Coors

Denver - Barry Bonds homered three times last night,

including the third-longest home run hit at Coors Field, as the San Francisco

Giants beat the Colorado Rockies, 7-4.

It was the fourth three-homer game of Bonds' career and gave him 38 homers

this year and 605 in his career. He is fourth on the career list, trailing only

Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714) and Willie Mays (660).

With a chance to tie the major- league record for homers in a game, Bonds

doubled against Todd Jones (1-4) in San Francisco's three-run ninth, hitting a

flare to leftfield.

Rich Aurilia had an RBI single and Jeff Kent hit a two-run double in the

inning for the Giants, who began the day 2 1/2 games behind Los Angeles in the

National League wild-card race.

Bonds finished 4-for-4 to increase his NL-leading batting average to .366

as he seeks the first batting title of his career.

Bonds increased his lead over Larry Walker, who is hitting .357.

Kent homered and drove in three runs for the Giants. Bonds hit a 492-foot

drive in the first inning off Rockies starter Denny Stark. The ball hit the

wall well behind the centerfield fence.

The only longer homers at Coors Field, which opened in 1995, were hit by

Mike Piazza (496 feet on Sept. 26, 1997) and Walker (493 feet on Aug. 31,

1997).

Bonds walked in the third, then homered again in the sixth off Stark, a

430-foot drive that hit the facing above the first deck in right-center.

He homered again in the seventh, a 390-foot shot into the lower deck in

rightfield off Kent Mercker. Bonds had gone 31 plate appearances and 30 at-bats

without a home run off Mercker.