The Pittsburgh Pirates have managed nicely without Bobby Bonilla. Now they might have to play without Barry Bonds for a while.
Bonds hurt his right side while hitting in the ninth inning, twisted to the ground in pain and immediately left Sunday's game at New York.The injury came moments after Pittsburgh had taken the lead in a game it eventually won 5-4 over the Mets, and was the only thing the Pirates were talking about in the clubhouse.
"You see your pennant hopes going right down when you see him go down," said Andy Van Slyke, whose sacrifice fly off John Franco in the ninth inning broke a 4-all tie. "If we lose him, I'd imagine our pennant hopes would vanish."
With Bonds, the Pirates' pennant hopes look pretty good.
The Pirates came into New York in first place in the NL East, four games ahead of both New York and St. Louis. Pittsburgh returns home to begin a 10-game homestand tonight with a five-game lead over the Cardinals.
Officially, the Pirates said Bonds had a muscle strain and would be day-to-day. But the league's home run leader and former MVP was unable to put on his shoes and socks after the game, needing teammate Steve Buechele to perform the tasks, and leaned heavily on strength coach Warren Sipp's shoulder as he slowly walked out the back door of the locker room.
"It's like someone took a knife and cut up into you," Bonds told Buechele.
"He felt a twinge in batting practice, but said he was OK," trainer Kent Biggerstaff said. "He felt a very sharp pain when the injury occurred and was unable to catch his breath. He went into spasms. We'll know more later about how long he'll be out."
Braves 4, Padres 2
At Atlanta Stadium, Charlie Leibrandt (6-2) pitched 8 2-3 strong innings and Ron Gant and Jeff Blauser homered as the Braves beat San Diego for their fourth straight victory and 13th in 15 games.
Gant hit his ninth homer in the second inning off Bruce Hurst (6-5), who had won three in a row and five of six decisions.
Cubs 5, Expos 1
At Wrigley Field, Danny Jackson (2-7) gave up one run in seven innings for only his third victory in 28 starts for Chicago. The Cubs won their season-high fourth straight game.
Derrick May had a two-run double in a four-run third off Ken Hill (5-4), and Mark Grace, returning to the lineup after missing three games with a sore toe, had a single and a double.
Astros 15, Giants 7
At the Astrodome, Pete Incaviglia hit two homers and drove in a career-high seven runs as Houston routed San Francisco. It was the eighth time Incaviglia has hit two homers in a game, and his seven RBIs tied the club record set by Rafael Ramirez on Aug. 29, 1989, against Chicago.
Dave Righetti (1-4), making his second start since leaving the bullpen, gave up six runs, nine hits and five walks in 3 1-3 innings. Reliever Rob Murphy worked 1 1-3 innings for the victory.
Cardinals 5, Phillies 2
At Busch Stadium, Rheal Cormier won his first game in six decisions and Tom Pagnozzi drove in two runs for St. Louis.
Cormier (1-5) allowed one run and six hits in seven innings. He was sent to the minors for one week earlier this month and had not won since last Oct. 2.
Rookie Brad Brink fell to 0-2.
Reds 5, Dodgers 1
At Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati swept a three-game series from Los Angeles for the first time since 1986. Greg Swindell (6-2) allowed nine hits in 8 1-3 innings with seven strikeouts and no walks.
Jose Offerman's error, his 14th, let in a pair of first-inning runs for Cincinnati. Chris Sabo added a solo homer, his fifth, Barry Larkin had an RBI single and reliever Steve Wilson threw a pair of wild pitches to let in the Reds' final run in the seventh.
Rob Dibble got the final two outs for his ninth save.
Ramon Martinez (3-4) has lost his last three starts.