Bonds, Springer meet again; no homers for Bonds

HOUSTON (AP) - The pitcher who gives up Barry Bonds' next home run will become the answer to a trivia question - and Russ Springer wasn't about to be that guy.

Before Bonds could hit him, the Astros reliever hit Bonds.

San Francisco's slugger went 2-for-4 and drove in a run for the second straight game in the Giants' 14-3 victory over Houston. Just when it looked like Bonds had rediscovered his stroke, Springer couldn't find the plate.

And Bonds is still looking for home run No. 714.

The wild confrontation began when the seven-time NL MVP led off the fifth inning. Springer's first pitch sailed behind Bonds' back, drawing a warning from plate umpire Joe West.

The next four pitches all came inside, including one that hit Bonds' bat handle on the third delivery for strike one. On the fifth pitch, Springer hit Bonds in the right shoulder as he turned to protect himself.

That's when Springer and manager Phil Garner got ejected _ and the Houston crowd of 35,286 gave the pitcher a standing ovation.

"You've got to look at our bullpen situation _ we're not going to hit anybody on purpose now," said Mike Gallo, who relieved Springer. "If he did do that on purpose and whatnot, he had a reason for it. I'm sure it's not a bad reason. That's just part of the game. You don't want to hurt anybody."

After playing for the eighth straight day, Bonds is scheduled to get his first day off Wednesday since sitting out a makeup game against the Astros on May 8 in San Francisco - his longest stretch in the starting lineup without a break since playing 10 consecutive days from June 18-27, 2004. He could pinch hit Wednesday night, however.

Springer, who allowed one homer to Bonds previously, could be fined or suspended.

"I played with Russ in St. Louis," Giants reliever Steve Kline said. "I had no idea he had anything for Barry. With the score the way it was, maybe they were mad he was still in the game. I don't know. It's baseball. Maybe one got away from him."

Bonds was unhurt and trotted down the first-base line and later scored on Jose Vizcaino's RBI single to give the Giants a 12-3 lead.

He also remained stalled at 713 homers - one shy of tying Babe Ruth for second place on the career list - for his eighth straight game. He gave way to defensive replacement Jason Ellison in the top of the sixth.

Springer also hit Bonds in September 2004, only four days after Bonds hit his 700th homer off Jake Peavy.