Barry Bonds Is Sad

Bonds Will Miss Another Start


(Compiled by The San Jose Mercury-News)

Barry Bonds took himself out of the starting lineup for a second consecutive night Tuesday, and he won't start today, Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said.

With Bonds claiming exhaustion and leg soreness, Bochy said he would adopt a more conservative approach with his soon-to-be 43-year-old cleanup hitter - especially when it comes to playing day games after night games.

"From this point on, I'm going to avoid that as much as I can," Bochy said. "That's catching up with him more than anything, especially in this hot weather."

Bonds, who lined out as a pinch hitter Tuesday in the Giants' 4-2 victory at Wrigley Field, is in a 0-for-21 slump - matching his worst since April, 2001. His worst streak was 0 for 23 as a rookie in 1986.

He will be available to pinch hit again today, Bochy said.

Bonds was expected to be in the lineup Tuesday but told Bochy that he had too much shin and hamstring soreness to play. He said he hasn't recovered after playing 12 innings Saturday afternoon on the heels of a Friday night game.

Bonds also appeared to need a mental break after going hitless in last weekend's three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which ended with three losses and an overturned laundry cart.

"How can I take a mental break when you guys are standing at my locker?" Bonds said to a half-dozen reporters. "That's kind of tough.