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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The San Francisco Giants are two games over
.500 on the road and 29 games over at Pacific Bell Park. So it
doesn't take much thought to figure out where they want to open the
NL playoffs.
|  | | Giants slugger Barry Bonds, center, is greeted by bat boy Jason Glushon after clubbing his 49th homer of the season. |
"We're going for it, to try to get that home-field advantage,"
manager Dusty Baker said Thursday night after Barry Bonds'
go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning helped beat Los
Angeles 5-3 and gave the Giants the best record in the majors.
"The guys have played hard," Baker said. "There's a lot at
stake and a lot to play for. Now we've got to face a tough Arizona
team."
It won't be easy for the Giants, whose 95-64 record gives them a
one-game lead over Atlanta and St. Louis heading into a
season-ending three-game series at Arizona, where they are 3-0.
They face Brian Anderson on Friday night and Randy Johnson on
Sunday.
"To be honest, I don't think any of these games has been played
at the same level," second baseman Jeff Kent said. "There's just
something that's missing, and it's not our fault."
The Giants haven't finished with the NL's best record since
1962, when they beat the Dodgers in a best-of-three playoff for the
pennant.
"Tonight was a huge win for us," first baseman J.T. Snow said.
"We're just trying to do what we can to win games, finish with the
best record and get that home-field advantage. We've won a lot more
games at home and we've played better at home."
Felipe Crespo homered in the eighth inning, the Giants'
franchise-record 222nd, one more than the New York Giants hit in
1947, when Johnny Mize led the team with 51.
Aaron Fultz (5-2) pitched 1 2/3 innings of one-hit relief, and
Robb Nen worked the ninth for his 40th save, his 27th in a row.
Trailing 3-2, the Giants regained the lead in the seventh when
Bill Mueller, who went 3-for-5, singled off Terry Adams (6-9) and
Bonds followed with his 49th homer of the season. It was the 494th
of his career, moving him ahead of Lou Gehrig into 17th place.
Crespo pinch hit in the eighth and connected off Mike Fetters.
Dodgers starter Kevin Brown allowed two runs and six hits in
five innings, striking out eight in his final start of the season.
He finished 13-6 with a 2.58 earned-run average, third-best in the majors behind
Boston's Pedro Martinez (1.74) and Arizona's Randy Johnson (2.38).
"He's dominated us over the past couple of years since I've
been here, and he's beaten up on us pretty good. So we know that
every run is big," Snow said.
Brown's 216 strikeouts were third behind Johnson (342) and
Martinez (284). Brown received three runs of support or fewer in 11
of 33 starts.
"I think he had a better season this year than last year,"
Dodgers manager Davey Johnson said. " We didn't support him very
well, offensively, but it goes with the territory."
Giants starter Shawn Estes gave up three runs -- two earned -- and
four hits in 5 1/3 innings.
The Dodgers' Gary Sheffield was ejected in the eighth by umpire
Chris Guccione for arguing a called third strike.
San Francisco took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on Snow's RBI single
and a run-scoring wild pitch by Brown.
Todd Hundley hit an RBI grounder in the bottom half and Los
Angeles, held to one hit in the first five innings, tied it in the
sixth on Hundley's RBI single. Paul Loduca followed with a
sacrifice fly off Fultz for a 3-2 lead.
Game notes
Dodgers executive Tommy Lasorda, making a triumphant return
to Dodger Stadium after managing the U.S. Olympic baseball team to
the gold medal, received a standing ovation from the crowd of
44,513 when he was introduced on the field during the third inning.
Organist Nancy Bea Hefley serenaded Frank Sinatra's old pal with a
few choruses of "My Way." ... For the second time in Brown's two
seasons as a Dodger, the team reached the 3 million mark in home
attendance on the night he made his final start. They've reached
that figure in each of the last five years and a record 15 times
overall. ... Estes induced his major league-leading 40th
ground-ball double play. ... Green is homerless in 22 consecutive
games.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
San Francisco Clubhouse
Los Angeles Clubhouse
RECAPS
Anaheim 6
Oakland 3
Texas 13
Seattle 6
Baltimore 23
Toronto 1
Minnesota 4
Cleveland 3
Tampa Bay 11
NY Yankees 3
Boston 7
Chi. White Sox 6
Kansas City 8
Detroit 5
Florida 7
Montreal 4
Philadelphia 4
Chicago Cubs 2
Arizona 12
Colorado 3
Cincinnati 8
Milwaukee 1
St. Louis 7
San Diego 6
Pittsburgh 3
Houston 2
NY Mets 8
Atlanta 2
San Francisco 5
Los Angeles 3
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