SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS Bonds clouts 699th in 5-2 victory

The 460-foot blast tied for eighth-longest in Bank One Ballpark history.
PHOENIX (AP) -- Barry Bonds got exactly what he wanted in the ninth inning -- a pitch in the strike zone that he could drive.
The San Francisco slugger hit a 460-foot solo shot off the scoreboard for his 699th homer in the Giants' 5-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks Sunday.
"It starts wearing on you about the fifth or sixth inning, and you can't keep that energy level up as high as you used to," Bonds said. "It gets really difficult. I have to dig deep and try to pace myself and not talk so much before games and just really isolate myself to keep my energy up."
But Bonds put a charge into the fastball from Mike Koplove after seeing in the Arizona reliever's eyes that Koplove didn't plan to add to Bonds' major league-record 203 walks.
A long blast
The drive, which struck the bottom of the scoreboard just beneath a digital display and bounced back onto the field, tied for eighth-longest in Bank One Ballpark history and was Bonds' longest since he crushed 467- and 462-footers on Aug. 29 in Atlanta.
Even Koplove was impressed.
"It was a high fastball," Koplove said. "I was behind in the count. To be honest with you, I thought I threw a perfect pitch. He was, I guess, just standing a little close to the JumboTron when he hit it."
The homer was his 100th in September and left him one away from joining Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) as the only players to reach 700. The Giants next play at Milwaukee on Tuesday night
Bonds walked his first two times up, then took a called third strike and grounded out to over-shifted second baseman Scott Hairston in short right field.
After the homer, Bonds motioned to the sky in his usual salute to his late father as he crossed home plate but did not acknowledge the cheering home crowd. Fans booed loudly Saturday night, when Bonds was walked three times.
A.J. Pierzynski, J.T. Snow and Pedro Feliz also hit solo homers for the Giants (79-65), who regained the NL wild card lead by winning for the sixth time in eight games. They are a game ahead of the Chicago Cubs (76-64) and Houston (78-66).
Jason Schmidt (16-6) pitched a four-hitter, struck out nine and walked two in his fourth complete game of the season, snapping a four-game winless streak.