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  Sunday, Jun. 4 4:05pm ET
Bonds, Giants pound Athletics
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Giants manager Dusty Baker got after his players before the game. Then his players got after the Oakland Athletics.

Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds connected for his league-high 23rd homer Sunday.
Barry Bonds hit his major league-leading 23rd home run and Jeff Kent homered twice and doubled twice to drive in five runs as San Francisco avoided a sweep by routing the A's 18-2 on Sunday.

Ellis Burks and Bill Mueller also homered to back Shawn Estes' seven-hitter and help the Giants match their biggest scoring burst of the season. Estes, who fanned eight and walked three in his eighth career complete game, hit a grand slam and threw a shutout in San Francisco's 18-0 victory over Montreal on May 24.

San Francisco's second road win in the last 12 tries included six-, five- and four-run innings and followed a closed-door pregame meeting called by Baker. He was unhappy the Giants had fallen two games below .500 after starting the series at Oakland with back-to-back losses.

"Quite a few things were brought up by Dusty. Quite a few things were said," Burks said. "I think a lot of guys took it to heart and we went out there today with an attitude. This is a game, but you've got to take it seriously. It was time for us to lick our wounds and get after it."

Baker was unhappy with the way the Giants were letting winnable games slip away, including a couple close losses in the first two games in Oakland.

"We could have won either of those last two games so there was a sense of frustration because we're better than we've been playing," Baker said. "We certainly didn't want to come to Oakland and get swept."

For all the talk about his pregame meeting, Baker said the story of the game was the way the Giants played.

"Shawn pitched like the game was one-nothing and Kent, Barry, everybody had big days," Baker said. "That was about as perfect a game as we can play. I'm very satisfied."

Estes (5-2) said he was fired up after listening to Baker's pregame "evaluation" of the team.

"I think we came out angry today and it showed," he said. "We came out today and we just fed off each other. This is a great offensive team, probably the best offensive team I've seen here."

Estes won for the fifth time in six decisions over his last seven starts, giving up a solo homer to Sal Fasano in the fifth inning.

The Giants set the tone at the outset against Omar Olivares (3-7), who lost his fourth straight decision while allowing eight runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings.

"You have to give them credit," Fasano said. "Dusty had his team focused and they beat the tar out of our club."

Added Oakland manager Art Howe: "They jumped on us early and it just got worse. It's a good thing we won two out of three."

Marvin Benard and Mueller hit successive singles to start the game and Bonds drove a 2-1 pitch into the right-field bleachers. Kent then doubled and eventually scored on a wild pitch.

Burks connected for a leadoff homer in the fourth and Bobby Estalella's RBI single put San Francisco up 6-0.

In the fifth, San Francisco sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six.

Bonds singled ahead of Kent's homer, which chased Olivares.

"I have to figure something out. Everything I threw they hit hard," Olivares said.

Scott Service relieved and the first three batters he faced reached on an error and two walks before Ramon Martinez's two-run double, a sacrifice fly by Estalella and a run-scoring double by Benard.

Kent hit his 16th homer of the season off Rich Sauveur, a three-run shot in San Francisco's five-run seventh and Mueller connected off Sauveur in the ninth.

Game notes
Sunday marked the third straight sellout in the series between the cross-bay rivals and the three-game attendance of 145,288 was the most ever at the Oakland Coliseum for a three-game set. It eclipsed the 140,876 who turned out to see the New York Yankees on May 1-3, 1981. ... Kent's two homers marked the 10th multihomer game of his career and first since June 16 at Colorado. ... Olivares has allowed seven home runs in his last six starts after allowing one -- an inside the park homer -- in his first six. He hasn't won since May 7, a span of five starts. ... The Giants had 19 hits.

 


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