Manager Dave Miley's decision to walk Barry Bonds backfired when Pedro Feliz followed with a homer, sparking the San Francisco Giants to a 6-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night in Cincinnati.
Left-hander Kirk Rueter (1-3) limited the Reds to three hits and no walks in eight innings. He also had an RBI double in the Giants' four-run eighth, completing his breakthrough performance.
Rueter came in with a 7.06 ERA and no wins in six starts, the worst season-opening slump of his career. He had thrown 118 pitches when he left for a pinch-hitter in the ninth, and Tyler Walker came on in relief.
Walker gave up an RBI single to D'Angelo Jimenez in the ninth, and the Reds loaded the bases with no outs. Jason Christiansen struck out Adam Dunn and got Ken Griffey Jr. to line out before Matt Herges got Juan Castro to fly out for his 10th save in 11 chances.
A tough decision by the Reds' first-year manager broke open a scoreless game in the seventh.
Bonds grounded out in his first two at-bats, denied hits by the Reds' infield shift. When he came to bat with two outs and no one on base in the seventh, shortstop Barry Larkin shifted again.
That's when the signal for the intentional walk came from the dugout, and Larkin moved back. Bonds, who leads the majors with 25 intentional walks, dropped his head in disappointment and the 34,448 fans booed loudly.
Bonds clapped his hands in celebration after Feliz drove a breaking ball from Cory Lidle (2-2) over the wall in center for his fourth homer, upsetting the strategy.
DODGERS 4, PIRATES 0: At Pittsburgh, Wilson Alvarez pitched perfect ball into the sixth inning before Chris Stynes reached on an infield hit — Pittsburgh's only runner of the night. Alvarez (1-0), making his first start this season following eight relief appearances, combined with Guillermo Mota on the one-hitter, helping the NL West leaders improve to 18-10.
MARLINS 3, PADRES 1: At Miami, Mike Lowell homered twice to back Carl Pavano (3-1), who allowed one run and four hits in eight innings. San Diego had two players ejected, including starting pitcher Jake Peavy (2-2) after he hit Pavano with a pitch with two outs in the seventh inning. Peavy gave up two runs in 6 2-3 innings, striking out eight.
CUBS 11, ROCKIES 0: At Chicago, Carlos Zambrano (3-1) retired the first 14 batters and gave up a career-low two hits in his second career shutout. Corey Patterson drove in four runs and Sammy Sosa and Ramon Martinez each had two hits and two RBIs.
EXPOS 4, CARDINALS 2: At Montreal, Brad Wilkerson and Terrmel Sledge hit two-run homers in the first inning and Sun-woo Kim (2-0) allowed one run and seven hits in six innings. Rocky Biddle pitched the ninth for his sixth save in six chances.
BREWERS 7, METS 5: At New York, Keith Ginter and Lyle Overbay homered off Tom Glavine (4-2) during a four-run third inning and pinch-hitter Ben Grieve also connected. Milwaukee won for just the second time in seven games and ended New York's four-game winning streak.
ASTROS 5, BRAVES 3: At Atlanta, Jeff Kent hit a two-run homer and solo homer to back Tim Redding (1-3), who allowed one run and four hits in six innings. Houston won for the eighth time in nine games and has the NL's best record at 19-10. Atlanta lost its season-high third in a row.