Barry Bonds hit his 715th home run Sunday to pass Babe Ruth for sole possession of second place on Major League Baseball's all-time list.
Bonds's seventh home run of the season for the San Francisco Giants, to center field at AT&T Park in San Francisco, came in the fourth inning off pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim of the Colorado Rockies. The two-run shot left the Giants trailing 6-2.
The 41-year-old Bonds is 41 home runs away from passing Hank Aaron's major-league record of 755.
The home-run ball bounced off the hands of at least two fans and into a concession area beyond the center-field fence, game images carried on MLB.com showed. Bonds trotted around the bases and waved to the fans on a curtain call outside the dugout.
Bonds walked in his first plate appearance Sunday, then had a single off the right-field wall in the sixth. He grounded out in his final at-bat in the eighth inning as the Rockies won 6-3.
Bonds tied Ruth at 714 homers on May 20 in Oakland, ending an 11-game streak without a home run that included a 4-for-29 slump at the plate.
"This is a great accomplishment because of Babe Ruth and what he brought to baseball," Bonds said after that game. "He changed the game of baseball and we've all had the opportunity to add our two cents in as well."
Fan cheered the 714th homer by Bonds, who has struggled with knee and elbow problems. He's also been booed by fans over questions about steroids.
The scrutiny that began more than two years ago with the indictment of Bonds's personal trainer on steroid-distribution charges increased with publication of the book "Game of Shadows" in March. The authors wrote that Bonds began using steroids before the 1999 season. Bonds has denied knowingly using banned performance-enhancing substances.
Since the book, Bonds has increasingly become a target of abuse from fans. Earlier this season, a fan threw a plastic syringe — without a needle — at Bonds as he walked off the field. When he played in Philadelphia this month, fans unfurled a banner that read, "Ruth did it on hot dogs and beer. Aaron did it with class. How did YOU do it?"
Ruth, who died in 1948, hit 714 homers in 8,399 at-bats for the Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Boston Braves. Bonds reached the milestone in 9,234 at-bats.
Aaron compiled his record 755 homers in 12,364 at-bats.