Barry Bonds* Hits No. 747 as Giants Beat Blue Jays, 4-3

Barry Bonds* is only eight homers short of tying Hank Aaron's all-time record. (AI Wire photo)

Barry Bonds* creamed the ball and when it cleared the fence, he was one round-tripper closer to Hammerin' Hank.

Bonds*, who entered Monday's interleague game against Toronto without a home run since May 27, ripped a high fastball off Josh Towers an estimated 438 feet into the right-centerfield stands in San Francisco as the Giants beat the Blue Jays, 4-3.

The home run was the 747th of Balco Barry's* career, leaving him eight shy of Hank Aaron's all-time mark. Bonds*, 42, has 13 home runs this season and has been the center of controversy for more than two seasons amid allegations he used illegal performance-enhancing substances, including human growth hormone and two testosterone-based balms called "the cream" and "the clear" (hence the asterisk).

While many in the baseball world have turned on him, the Giants' faithful have not. After his two-run home run on Monday, the team unveiled a new countdown on the main centerfield scoreboard featuring a road sign with "Bonds 747" in the middle and "Road to History" on either side. Bonds* hugged and kissed his bat-boy son, Nikolai, when he crossed the plate. Fans jumped to their feet, chanting "Barry, Barry!" as he walked to leftfield and tipped his cap before the top of the fifth. Bye, Bye, Baby - the Giants' theme song back when Bonds'* godfather, Willie Mays, was on his way to 660 homers - blared from the sound system.

The home run tied the game at 3 in the fourth inning and Omar Vizquel drove in the go-ahead run later in the same frame. The Giants paid -150 on the moneyline (meaning a winning wager of $150 would net a $100 profit).

San Francisco's Matt Morris (7-3) recovered from a shaky start and pitched a seven-hitter for his 23rd career complete game and third this season.

In other interleague action on Monday:

Philadelphia 3, Chicago White Sox 0: Adam Eaton pitched four-hit ball for seven innings, and Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell and Jimmy Rollins homered to lead the host Phillies, -110 favorites. Eaton (7-4) worked out of a pair of jams, made a nifty defensive play to help his cause and won for the fourth time in five starts. He walked three and struck out five. Mike Zagurski tossed a perfect eighth and Antonio Alfonseca worked a one-hit ninth for his fifth save.

In the lone American League game:

Seattle 8, Cleveland 7: Raul Ibanez made sure the Mariners' didn't suffer any more humiliation after allowing a seven-run lead to slip away. The Seattle leftfielder delivered a run-scoring double, his fifth RBI of the game, in the ninth inning to save his teammates a long flight out of town. The Indians had rallied to tie the game in the eighth, but Ibanez doubled to right-center after Jose Vidro started the ninth with a single off Joe Borowski (0-3). The Mariners were a +144 underdog.

In the National League:

Los Angeles Dodgers 5, New York Mets 3: James Loney doubled home the go-ahead run in the sixth inning in his second big -eague game of the season, and the Dodgers rallied to hand the slumping NL East leaders their seventh loss in eight games. Randy Wolf (8-4) earned the victory, allowing nine hits and three runs in six shaky innings. Wolf, who walked none and struck out three, moved into a tie with Philadelphia's Cole Hamels for the most wins in the NL. Takashi Saito, the fourth Los Angeles pitcher, worked the ninth for his 17th save in 18 chances as the Dodgers paid +119.

Chicago Cubs 2, Houston 1: Carlos Zambrano delivered with his pitches and his bat. Looking more like the NL All-Star he was last season than the erratic pitcher who got into a fight with his catcher, Michael Barrett, 10 days before, Zambrano had one of his strongest outings as the Cubs won as -210 favorites at Wrigley Field. Zambrano (7-5) allowed three hits and an unearned run in eight innings and also homered.

For complete MLB lines for Tuesday, visit the Bodog Sportsbook.