SAN FRANCISCO Bonds clubs 655th homer, needs 100 to catch Hank Aaron



Five more homers will tie the Giants slugger with Willie Mays.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Barry Bonds was asked if he realized he'd just pulled within 100 homers of his hero, Hank Aaron.
Bonds shrugged it off, saying: "No. Well, I know now."
The San Francisco slugger hit his 655th home run and also reached a milestone in walks as the Giants rallied to beat the San Diego Padres 8-7 on Monday night.
Bonds connected for a solo shot off Brian Lawrence in the first inning for his 42nd homer of the season. Bonds is five shy of tying his godfather, Willie Mays, for third place at 660.
"That's reachable," said Bonds, who was greeted by actor Robin Williams in the clubhouse after the game.
Aaron leads the homer list with 755, followed by Babe Ruth at 714. Bonds is tied with St. Louis' Albert Pujols for the most homers in the NL, one behind Texas' Alex Rodriguez for the major league lead.
Crazy comeback
Pinch-runner Pedro Feliz scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by Jay Witasick (3-5) with two outs in the eighth, capping a crazy comeback. Feliz went to third on a flyball by Marquis Grissom to shallow right field. Gary Matthews Jr. caught the ball but didn't immediately try to make a play, thinking it was the third out.
"I was ready to take off," Feliz said. "I saw the way he caught the ball and took advantage of that."
San Francisco's magic number to clinch the NL West was reduced to four.
Joe Nathan (10-4) retired the only batter he faced for the win, and Tim Worrell pitched the ninth for his 34th save. Nathan's 10th win was a career high, making him the first Giants reliever to reach the mark in one season since Scott Garrelts had 11 in 1987.
Two walks
Bonds was walked twice, including a free pass in the eighth that resulted in the tying run. J.T. Snow had walked two batters ahead of Bonds, and Edgardo Alfonzo hit an RBI single to pull the Giants within one. Benito Santiago then hit a 3-2 pitch into left to score Bonds.
With Jose Cruz Jr. at the plate, Witasick threw a ball into the dirt allowing Feliz to come home for the go-ahead run.
The Giants continue to make teams pay when they walk Bonds.
"We've been finding ways all year," Bonds said. "We're not in this position by accident."
Matthews was ejected by plate umpire Ron Kulpa in the ninth after arguing a called third strike.
Snow hit a solo homer to center in the first, two batters before Bonds. Lawrence allowed two runs on four hits in five innings, striking out three and walking one.
Nevin has three hits
San Diego's Phil Nevin got three hits and scored twice against Kirk Rueter, who left with a 4-3 lead with one out in the sixth.
Jim Brower entered with Khalil Greene on first after a walk. Brower gave up a pinch-hit single to Todd Sears, then threw a wild pitch that advanced the runners.
Sean Burroughs walked to load the bases, and Mark Loretta hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-4. Brian Giles hit a tie-breaking two-run triple to put the Padres ahead 6-4.
In the bottom of the sixth, Bonds was intentionally walked by Brandon Villafuerte to load the bases. It was Bonds' 2,063rd walk, breaking a tie with Ruth for second place. Rickey Henderson leads with 2,190.
Alfonzo followed Bonds and also walked, scoring pinch-runner Lance Niekro for his first big league run. Santiago grounded out to end the inning.