Bonds rests following 13-inning game

Barry Bonds was kept out of the Giants' starting lineup Wednesday night -- this time after playing all 13 innings in Tuesday night's 7-5 loss to Atlanta -- again delaying his chase of Hank Aaron for first place on Major League Baseball's all-time home run list.
"It's pretty simple, I think he can use the day," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy before the game. "I don't want to get to the point where he's going to need two or three days. It was a long game here yesterday so I said I was going to give him a break today."
Wednesday was the fifth time in the last 10 games that Bonds has been kept out of the starting lineup, and the second time in the last four. Bonds is stuck at 753 homers, two away from tying the Hammer's 755 and three away from breaking it.
The Giants will host the Braves again Thursday at 4:05 p.m. PT, then the Marlins, who come in on Friday for a trio of games: two night games (including a 6:05 p.m. PT start Saturday) followed by a 1:05 p.m. matchup Sunday.
After an off-day Monday, the Giants will begin a string of 31 games in 30 days when they hit the road for six, including three each in Los Angeles and San Diego.
Whether Bonds will be back in the lineup Thursday is still a matter of consideration, Bochy said.
"We'll see how he's doing, but I would say there's a pretty good chance," Bochy said. "His legs are fine. I haven't had a chance to talk to him."
Bonds, who ultimately scored the final run of Tuesday night's game on Pedro Feliz's 13th-inning bases-loaded single, looked spent as he jogged home from third base to touch the plate and then limped back to the dugout. It didn't help Bonds' bruised body that he made a sliding, sprawling one-handed catch toward the left-field line to rob Brian McCann of an extra-base hit to open the 10th.
After Bonds played all 30 innings of a weekend series against the Dodgers on July 13-15, including a 12-inning day game after a night game, he had to skip three consecutive starts at Chicago on the following road trip because of sore and swollen lower legs.
Bonds hasn't hit a homer since last Thursday, when he smacked Nos. 752 and 753 into a biting wind at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Bonds has five hits in his last 38 at-bats, with the two homers, six RBIs and 15 walks. On Tuesday night, he went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts looking and a walk, the hit being a fourth-inning single into the right-field corner.
"He looked a little sore there at the end of the [13-inning] game, I could see it," Bochy said. "It's a long game. He made a great catch out there. Last time we had an extra-inning game, he ended up needing the three days. I'm going try to keep him on the field as much as I can and that's why he's getting a day today."