The last time Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants played at Dodger Stadium, they lost the NL West race.
When they return to Los Angeles tonight, they get a chance to get back into the chase.Bonds hit two homers and drove in five runs Sunday as the Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 8-1. Robby Thompson added three hits and scored three times in his first game back from the disabled list.
The victory left the Giants in third place, 61/2 games behind Los Angeles. The Giants, struggling at 32-43, open a three-game set this evening in Los Angeles. They have not played at Dodger Stadium since they lost 12-1 on the final day of the 1993 regular season, costing them a chance to tie Atlanta for the division title.
"I was pushing to get back for the LA series," Thompson said. "It really didn't matter what I did. I would have taken an 0-for-4."
Bonds hit a pair of two-run homers, connecting in the first and fifth innings against Greg Harris (3-8). Bonds, who has 19 home runs, also had an RBI single.
Thompson, playing for the first time since he injured his right shoulder on May 8, hit the first pitch he saw for a double off the center-field wall. He hit the next pitch he saw for a double off the top of the fence in right-center.
"Barry is starting to swing good again," Giants manager Dusty Baker said, "and it's good to have Robby back. He gets three hits in his first game. It helps to have all the parts back."
John Burkett (5-6) shut out the Rockies on five hits for eight innings. Only three runners reached second base before Rod Beck relieved to start the ninth.
The game at Mile High Stadium drew 73,171. The Rockies set another major-league attendance record by drawing 217,009 for the three-game series, 105 more than Cleveland attracted for the final series at their old ballpark last season.
It was 97 degrees at game time and the temperature went to 104 by the sixth inning, breaking the previous record for the date in Denver of 98 degrees.
Dodgers 5, Astros 4
Brett Butler hit a tiebreaking home run with two outs in the seventh inning for Los Angeles.
Drabek (10-4) was foiled in his bid to become the NL's first 11-game winner.
Mike Piazza also homered for the second straight game for the Dodgers, giving him 17.
Phillies 9, Braves 8
Darren Daulton went 3-for-3 with a three-run homer and scored four times as Philadelphia beat visiting Atlanta.
Ryan Klesko hit his second home run of the game and David Justice hit a two-run shot in the eighth inning for the Braves.
Reds 12, Padres 4
Hal Morris had four hits and Kevin Mitchell hit his 19th home run, leading Cincinnati to its seventh win in eight games.
Morris' RBI single put the Reds ahead 5-4 and keyed a five-run sixth inning. Mitchell earlier matched his home run total from 1993, when he played only 93 games because of injuries.
Marlins 6, Expos 1
Mark Gardner pitched 72/3 shutout innings against his former team and tied a club mark with 10 strikeouts for Florida.
Gardner (2-2) was activated from the disabled list before the game, having missed more than two weeks because of an injured groin. He gave up seven hits and walked one against the team that traded him after the 1992 season.
Pirates 7, Mets 3
Paul Wagner blanked New York before tiring in the ninth inning and visiting Pittsburgh won its sixth in a row.
Wagner (5-5) took a four-hitter into the ninth, then gave up four hits and three runs.
Cardinals 3, Cubs 1
Rick Sutcliffe, who won the Cy Young Award for the Cubs in 1984, won in his first game back at Wrigley Field in three seasons.
Sutcliffe (4-3) gave up one run on four hits in six innings. It was his first win against Chicago since 1979, when he pitched for Los Angeles.
American League
Yankees 12, Indians 11
The biggest baseball weekend Cleveland has seen in 40 years looked like most of the others - it rained and the Indians lost.
This was suposed to be the weekend the Indians showed off their new ballpark to the dreaded New York Yankees.
Cleveland came into the three-game series riding a club record 18-game winning streak at home and had their fans reminiscing of 1954, when the Indians won 111 games and played in the World Series. Two wins by the Yankees and the weekend-long rain took care of that.
New York blew most of an eight-run lead Sunday but held on for a 12-11 victory over the Indians, the Yankees' sixth straight over Cleveland this season and their eighth in a row, dating back to last year.
On Friday night, the Yankees built a 9-5 lead before the game was suspended following nearly three hours of rain delays. The two teams finished Saturday - an 11-6 New York victory - before the regularly scheduled game was rained out.
Twins 11, Royals 4
At Minneapolis, Kirby Puckett surpassed Rod Carew as Minnesota's career hits leader and drove in three runs for the Twins. Puckett had three hits, giving him 2,088 in 11 seasons with the Twins. He moved past Carew, who had 2,085 hits in 12 seasons with Minnesota.
Puckett passed Carew with a two-run homer, his 12th, in the first inning.
Brewers 5, Red Sox 4
Milwaukee's Dave Nilsson drove in three runs, including the go-ahead score in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Nilsson's two-out single off reliever Chris Howard drove in B.J. Surhoff.
Athletics 10, Tigers 5
At Oakland, Calif., Troy Neel hit a two-run single and Mike Bordick's two-run double highlighted Oakland's seven-run first inning.
The A's swept the three-game series and have won 10 of their last 12. Terry Steinbach went 3-for-4 with a homer and Ruben Sierra had three hits for Oakland.
Angels 4, Rangers 3
Tim Salmon homered to lead off the eighth inning as the Angels handed visiting Texas its 10th loss in 12 games. Salmon hit a 1-2 pitch from John Dettmer (0-2) over the left-field fence for his 16th homer.
Texas, which dropped to 33-40, became the first team in major league history to be seven games under .500 and in first place.
White Sox 8, Mariners 7
At Seattle, reliever Jose DeLeon struck out Jay Buhner with the bases loaded to end the game as the White Sox held on for their sixth straight win.
Tim Raines and Julio Franco hit RBI singles in the eighth inning for the White Sox, who trimmed Cleveland's lead in the AL Central to two games.
Orioles 7, Blue Jays 1
At Toronto, Mike Mussina pitched a five-hitter for his 11th win and Brady Anderson homered twice as the Orioles handed the Blue Jays their eighth straight loss.