NL WEST Bonds, Giants clobber Nomo

A.J. Pierzynski went 4-for-4 in San Francisco's 7-1 win over Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Dodgers didn't get batters out ahead of Barry Bonds, and he made them pay.
Bonds hit a three-run homer for his 1,300th career extra-base hit, Brett Tomko came within two outs of his first major league shutout and the San Francisco Giants defeated Los Angeles 7-1 Wednesday night.
"It just seems like he comes up every inning," Dodgers left fielder Dave Roberts said about Bonds.
It wasn't a one-man show.
A.J. Pierzynski went 4-for-4 to tie his career high and had a two-run double, helping the first-place Giants increase their lead over San Diego in the NL West to 21/2 games. The Dodgers dropped 31/2 games back.
Got good pitches
"I'm getting closer to where I thought I should've been at the beginning," said Pierzynski, in his first NL season after being traded from Minnesota. "I got some good pitches to hit."
Ray Durham and former Dodger Marquis Grissom also homered off Hideo Nomo, who has given up 16 homers this season, the most by a Dodgers pitcher.
"He's having trouble throwing his split-finger for strikes and that's the key," Dodgers catcher Paul Lo Duca said. "When you're getting behind guys and having to throw fastballs, you're going to get hurt. Barry made him pay, and so did Gripp. His arm strength is getting better and better, but mechanically, there's something that's just not right."
Asked if he's worried about being demoted to the bullpen, Nomo said, "I don't really think about that. I personally don't think my fastball has lost speed, but they've been hitting my fastball so it's easy to say that."
Hit first pitch
Bonds hit the first pitch he saw from Nomo into the left-field pavilion in the third inning, giving San Francisco a 4-0 lead. Durham singled and J.T. Snow walked to set up Bonds, who homered for the 20th time after being hit by a pitch his first time up.
"He told me before the at-bat he was going to go the other way," San Francisco manager Felipe Alou said. "Then he told me he didn't hit it good enough."
The Dodgers pitched to Bonds one night after walking him four times, including twice intentionally, in a 2-1 victory. He was 1-for-3 and scored two runs. He didn't talk to reporters after the game.
"When you don't get the guys in front of him [Bonds], and the guys behind him get base hits, there were just too many people in their lineup that were doing damage for that at-bat to have any significance whatsoever," Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said of Bonds' homer.
Tomko (3-4), in his second start since coming off the disabled list, allowed one run and seven hits, struck out six and walked two in 8 1-3 innings.
"Wins are better than shutouts," he said.
Pitch count
He gave up three singles in the ninth, including Milton Bradley's run-scoring hit up the middle on Tomko's 118th -- and final -- pitch.
Scott Eyre got one out before walking Juan Encarnacion to load the bases, but Jim Brower got pinch-hitter Jayson Werth to ground out to end it.
Tomko held the Dodgers to one run on three hits in six innings of a 9-3 win last Thursday.