PITTSBURGH (AP) -Barry Bonds hit the 736th and 737th home runs of his career Friday night in the city where he began his career 21 years ago, homering on consecutive at-bats in the second and fourth innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Left-hander Zach Duke became the 436th pitcher to allow a Bonds homer when the San Francisco Giants left fielder hit a line drive just inside the foul pole down the right-field line in the second inning, a two-run shot.
Bonds hit a longer drive in the fourth, a shot into the right-center stands off Shawn Chacon, Bonds’ third homer of his career against the right-hander. Both homers came when the count was 1-1.
Bonds needs just 19 more homers to break Hank Aaron’s career record of 755.
Bonds was off to a slow start – he carried a .192 average and only one homer into the game – until he singled once and homered twice in his three at-bats Friday. With the Giants up 8-2, he was lifted after homering in the fourth.
Of Bonds’ 737 homers, 96 have been hit in Pittsburgh: 89 in Three Rivers Stadium, where he played with the Pirates from 1986-92, and seven in 39 at-bats in PNC Park, which opened in 2001.
Bonds now has 70 career multihomer games, leaving him two behind Babe Ruth’s major league record of 72. Bonds also moved ahead of Ruth and into fifth place in career total bases with 5,802.
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