DENVER Rockies win, but Bonds clobbers home run 698

With 698 homers, he's close to joining Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth.
DENVER (AP) -- Given the choice, Colorado Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said he wouldn't let Barry Bonds hurt his team.
Hurdle went back on his word and got away with it.
Bonds hit his 698th homer, but Jeromy Burnitz hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning to help the Rockies rally for an 8-7 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night.
"Those aren't easy decisions to make," Hurdle said. "You make them and you just look for the best. It worked out."
Barely.
Escape
Colorado pitched to Bonds in the first inning, and Jamey Wright got him to hit a weak pop up to shallow center with one out and a runner on first.
The Rockies weren't so lucky in the third inning.
With Edgardo Alfonzo on second after an RBI double, Wright tossed a first-pitch strike to Bonds, drawing cheers from the fans. After a ball, Wright left a fastball out over the plate and Bonds lifted a fly toward left.
The ball didn't appear to have enough on it to clear the wall, but it bounced off left fielder Matt Holliday's glove and landed in the stands for a two-run homer that put the Giants up 3-2.
"If there had been two outs, he would have been on in a heartbeat, but I had a gut feeling we're asking for a big inning if we put him on," Hurdle said. "I just didn't have a good enough feeling and, of course, he hits the home run, so my gut feeling went from my gut to my throat."
Bonds is within two homers of joining Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) as the only players to reach 700.
The six-time NL MVP also has hit 40 homers in five straight seasons and eight overall, tying Aaron's NL record. Ruth holds the major league record with 11 seasons with 40 homers.
Playing it safe
Wright was far more careful with the Giants slugger in the fifth, walking him on four pitches with two outs on nobody on. Bonds just missed his second homer in the sixth inning, lining Jeff Fassero's 3-0 fastball near the top of the wall in right. Bonds finished 2-for-3 and was intentionally walked by Shawn Chacon with one on and one out in the ninth inning.
"I'm no fool," Chacon said. "It's not about your ego, it's about the situation in the game. We had to do that there."
Colorado's ploy almost didn't work.
The Rockies took a 6-4 lead in the seventh inning on Mark Sweeney's grand slam, only to give it back on Ray Durham's two-run double off Tim Harikkala (6-3) in the eighth.
Burnitz followed with a two-run homer in the bottom half off Jason Christiansen (4-3), setting the stage for Chacon.
Colorado's closer has been on a roll over the past month getting saves in his last seven chances, but seemed to revert to the form that got him in trouble early in the year.
Chacon gave up a leadoff single to Michael Tucker, who hit a solo homer in the fifth inning, then walked Bonds with one out. Deivi Cruz followed with an RBI single to cut the lead to 8-7 and J.T. Snow lined out to center.
Loads bases
Chacon followed with a wild pitch to put runners on second and third, walked Pedro Feliz to load the bases and nearly hit Marquis Grissom in the head. He finally ended it with a high fastball, striking out Grissom for his 33rd save.
"There were fireworks right up to the end," Giants manager Felipe Alou said. "You can't make mistakes late in the game here."
The Giants certainly learned that, failing on a chance to make up ground on Chicago in the NL wild-card race.
The Giants are still a half-game behind the Cubs, who lost 7-6 in 12 innings to Montreal. Houston, which beat Cincinnati 9-7, is also a half-game behind Chicago.
Starter Jason Schmidt had another rough outing, allowing six runs and five hits in 61/3 innings after giving up 12 runs in eight innings his previous two starts.