JOHN BARRY MORE

Game conditions:

Sky: Perfect. Sunny
Temp: 64, slight breeze blowing to left.
Pitchers: Young. Matt Cain of the Giants is just 22, and despite that lively arm, is 3-12 on the season. Marlin lefty Dontrelle Willis is 25. The 2003 NL Rookie of the Year is having the worst season of his five-year career, with a 7-10 record and a bizarre 5.15 ERA. His highest previous ERA was 4.02 in 2004.

Barry Time: The Marlins failed to score in the top of the first, and Bonds bats cleanup. Just to refresh, the Giant host Florida today and tomorrow before heading down I-5 (as if they're bussing) to Los Angeles and then San Diego for a total of six games. They have an off-day Monday. Bonds actually lives in L.A., so it will be a quasi-home series for him Tuesday through Thursday at the Dodgers.

By the way, it is a treat to watch Dontrelle Willis pitch. I feel as if I'm watching Lou Gossett, Jr., portraying Satchel Paige in "Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy 'Satchel' Paige". Yeah, I know he was a righty.

Randy Winn just singled leading off for the Giants. Unless there's a double play or he's picked off or a radioactive meteor plummets from the sky onto the field, Bonds will bat this inning.

Omar Vizquel, batting second, just walked.

Could Bonds possibly hit a grand slam to tie Aaron?

By the way, who wants to make this bet with me: I'll bet $10,000 of my dollars to $1 of yours that Bonds' 756th homer is not an inside-the-park job. I'll check after this at-bat to see if he's ever hit one.

Ray Durham just lined out, but the attempted double play toss went into the dugout, giving each baserunner two bases. Winn scored and Vizquel is now on third.

Bonds is batting....

And Bonds strikes out swinging. Pitch-by-pitch:

1: Low, ball 1
2. Inside, but the ump calls a strike. 1-1. Bonds steps out of the strike zone, turns his back to the ump and smiles in disbelief.
3. Low, but down the middle. Could have gone either way but ump calls a strike. 1-2
4. Swing and a miss, Bonds goes down swinging.

He's now 1-4 against Willis lifetime, with another 4 walks. The lone hit was a single.