Bonds New Marlins Hitting Coach

Barry Bonds has turned down the volume by keeping a low profile since 2007, his final year as a player. Now the polarising home run king is back in the major leagues as hitting coach for Stanton and the Miami Marlins.

Bonds wore his familiar No25 and a smile as he faced a cluster of notebooks and cameras during media day Saturday at Marlins Park. The session included no boos or questions about steroids, and only one brief reference to the Hall of Fame, where Bonds is an uncharacteristic 0 for 4 in the annual balloting.

He received 44% of the vote in January, a career high but far short of the 75% needed for induction. Nonetheless, he said he considers himself a Hall of Famer.

“There’s not one player that ever could say I’m not one,” he said. “There’s not a coach who ever coached me who says I’m not one. In my heart and soul, and God knows, I’m a Hall of Famer.”

Bonds will likely hear some jeers around the NL this season. Marlins players have expressed no reservations about working with the steroids-tainted slugger, however, and Stanton sounded enthusiastic despite an inadvertent choice of words that caused a few double-takes.

“I’m going to go in the lab, get to work and see what we can come up with,” he said.

Bonds will begin working with Stanton, reigning NL batting champion Dee Gordon and two-time AL batting champ Ichiro Suzuki, among others, when the full squad reports for spring training Tuesday in Jupiter, Florida.

“He can help everybody,” veteran infielder Chris Johnson said. “If you can’t pick something up from him, I don’t know who can help you. You’d be an idiot not to be picking his brain all the chances you get.”

Bonds might agree. He said he knows what will work if a player is willing to put in the time, and as a mentor, he said he can be another Willie Mays.

“It’s great to be in the position I’m in, the same thing as my godfather Willie was,” he said.

Bonds said spring training will be a time to develop relationships and perhaps step on toes. He was already acquainted with Stanton, who played against Bonds’ son in high school in Los Angeles and grew up a fan of the Giants slugger.

“Me and my brother would fight over his rookie cards and stuff,” Stanton said. “I still have a couple I stole from him.”

Bonds is the career leader in home runs with 762 and a seven-time NL MVP, but the Marlins are treating him like one of the guys. Ace Jose Fernandez, a .190 career hitter, joked that he can hit the ball farther than the new hitting coach.

“I’m 51 years old, so he’d better,” Bonds responded with a laugh. “If he doesn’t, he’s terrible.”

In recent years Bonds worked as a guest instructor for the Giants in spring training and privately tutored several players, including Alex Rodriguez. Hiring him in Miami was team owner Jeffrey Loria’s idea, and new manager Don Mattingly supported the move.

Bonds said he has missed competition and clubhouse camaraderie, and saw coaching as a way to honor his late father, former major leaguer Bobby Bonds, who taught Barry how to hit.

Bonds convinced the Marlins he’s willing to put in the long hours the job requires.

“I’ve been a hitting coach, and I know how much time it takes,” Mattingly said. “I wanted to make sure Barry was ready for that, and he was.”

Mattingly, a six-time All-Star, said the hiring upgraded his staff’s collective resume.

“Between me and Barry,” Mattingly said with a smile, “we hit over a thousand homers.”

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Boston Level Cardinal Series

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The World Series is tied at two games apiece after the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 on Sunday, ensuring the title will be decided at Fenway Park in Boston.

"What's going on inside here is pretty special, magical," Gomes said.

Inserted into the lineup about 75 minutes before game time after Shane Victorino couldn't shake off a bad back, Gomes hit a tiebreaking shot off reliever Seth Maness in the sixth inning.

Felix Doubront and surprise reliever John Lackey, both starters during the regular season, picked up for a gritty Clay Buchholz to help the Red Sox hang on.

And of course, another bizarre ending: Koji Uehara picked off rookie pinch-runner Kolten Wong at first base for the final out -- with postseason star Carlos Beltran standing at the plate.

"I feel bad for the kid. I know he's trying to steal a base or put himself in a position where he can score," Beltran said. "But the best way for us to pick him up is to come here tomorrow and get a win."

Game 5 is Monday night at Busch Stadium, with Boston left-hander Jon Lester facing Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright in a rematch of the opener, won 8-1 by the Red Sox.

Of the 1,404 postseason games in major league history, none had previously ended on an obstruction call or a pickoff, according to STATS.

"It was the first time for me to end a game like that as far as I can remember," Uehara said through a translator.

Wong's eyes were red from tears when he spoke after the game.

"I was ready to go from first to third with Carlos driving me in," he said. "Went to plant, and my back foot just came right out of me. From there, I was dead. I knew I was dead once it happened."

Wong also apologised on Twitter for getting picked off: "All i want to say is I'm sorry #CardinalNation I go out everyday playing this game as hard as I can and leaving everything on the field."

Gomes, a journeyman who first made it to the majors nearly nine months after a heart attack on Christmas Eve in 2002, arrived at Busch Stadium expecting to watch the game from the bench. Given his chance, he helped Boston get started in the fifth inning when he followed David Ortiz's leadoff double with a 10-pitch walk that wore down starter Lance Lynn, who had faced the minimum 12 batters through the first four innings.

Stephen Drew's sacrifice fly made it 1-1, erasing a deficit created when centre fielder Jacoby Ellsbury's third-inning error advanced Matt Carpenter into scoring position for Beltran's RBI single.

Ortiz, who is 8-for-11 (.727) in the series after a three-hit night, was Boston's leader, smacking his hands together and screaming at team-mates to get going when he pulled into second base on his double. Then, after the fifth inning, he huddled the Red Sox for a pep talk in the dugout.

"Let's loosen up and let's try to play baseball the way we normally do," Ortiz remembered telling them. "I know we are a better team than what we had shown. Sometimes you get to this stage and you try to overdo things, and it doesn't work that way."

"It was like 24 kindergartners looking up at their teacher," Gomes said, "He got everyone's attention, and we looked him right in the eyes. That message was pretty powerful."

Not long after, Gomes' drive put Boston ahead 4-1.

With adrenaline taking over, Gomes spiked an arm through the air as he rounded first base, yelled and banged his chest with his right fist twice. Team-mates tugged on Gomes' beard for good luck when he got back to the dugout, including a two-handed pull by Mike Napoli.

While talk of umpires' calls dominated discussion following two of the opening three games, this one turned on a manager's pre-game decision.

John Farrell's original lineup didn't include Gomes, but Victorino's back had been bothering him since Saturday, so Daniel Nava was moved from left field to right and from fifth to second in the batting order. Gomes was inserted into the No. 5 hole behind Ortiz.

"During batting practice, when I met with Shane today, he said, 'Yeah, put me in there. I'll find a way to get ready to start the game,'" Farrell said. "As we went through the other work, it became obvious he wasn't capable. And you know what? It turns out that his replacement is the difference in this one tonight."

Gomes had been 0-for-9 in the series before the home run, and Red Sox outfielders had been 4-for-40 with no RBIs. Following Dustin Pedroia's two-out single and a four-pitch walk to Ortiz by Lynn, Maness threw five straight sinkers to Gomes, who sent the last one into the Red Sox bullpen in left as Matt Holliday kept running back only to run out of room.

"It was right down the middle," Maness said. "That's baseball, it happens."

Carpenter singled home a run in the seventh off Craig Breslow after pinch-hitter Shane Robinson doubled with two outs against Doubront. Junichi Tazawa came in and got Holliday to hit an inning-ending grounder to second, a night after allowing a tiebreaking, two-run double to the slugger.

Jonny Gomes of the Red Sox reacts after hitting a tiebreaking three-run homer against the Cardinals in the sixth inning of Game 4 on Sunday night.

Doubront got the win with 2 2/3 innings of one-hit relief. Lackey, the Game 2 loser and Boston's probable Game 6 starter, pitched the eighth for his first relief appearance in nine years, overcoming a two-base throwing error by third baseman Xander Bogaerts -- Boston's seventh error of the series -- and a wild pitch.

With a runner on third, Lackey got Jon Jay to pop up and David Freeseto ground out.

"It's been a while for sure," Lackey said, "but I got through it and got to the closer."

Uehara, Boston's sixth pitcher, got three outs for his sixth save this postseason, completing a six-hitter.

Lynn was the hard-luck loser, leaving with the score tied and two on for Maness, who allowed Gomes' homer on his fifth pitch.

"As a competitor, you want the opportunity to maybe pitch yourself out of the inning," Lynn said. "I'm not happy when I come out of a game -- ever. That's just part of being a competitor."

It was a special anniversary for both teams. Exactly nine years ago, the Red Sox completed a four-game sweep of the Cardinals across the street at old Busch Stadium for their first championship since 1918. And two years ago, Freese hit a tying, two-run, two-out triple in the ninth against the Texas Rangers and a winning homer in the 11th to force a Game 7, which St. Louis won the following night.

Buchholz, in his first appearance since the AL Championship Series finale on Oct. 19, fought through shoulder issues and his velocity topped out at 90 mph. He lasted a season-low four innings and 66 pitches before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter, but he allowed just an unearned run and three hits.

"I don't think I had the fastball I usually had. But I had some more movement on my other pitches and had some good defense behind me," Buchholz said. "I felt like I gave it all that I could while I was out there."

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Red Sox Napoli Beats Yankees

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Mike Napoli's teammates weren't so concerned about what he did in the middle innings after his two home runs -- one to start things off, the other to finish it.

Napoli hit a three-run shot after the Red Sox fell behind early, then he ended the game with a solo shot with two outs in the 11th inning, and Boston beat the New York Yankees 8-7 on Sunday night.

"He's a dangerous batter," Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said. "He can do damage at any point in the game."

Napoli ended the 4-hour, 46-minute game at 12:53 a.m. Monday.

The Red Sox scored seven runs after falling behind 3-0, thanks in part to Napoli's three-run homer in the third inning that cleared the seats above the Green Monster and the billboard above them. But they coughed up the lead when New York scored two in the sixth and two in the seventh to tie it 7-all.

It stayed that way until Napoli hit a 3-2 pitch from Adam Warren (1-1) into the center field bleachers. Napoli also struck out three times and grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the eighth.

"I had a chance to win it in the eighth -- to put a run across with a sac fly," said Napoli, who has four homers in his last 12 games and 13 for the season. "That's what is so great about this game, you always get another chance. You've just got to keep going. You can't do anything about it."

Pedro Beato (1-0) pitched the 11th for the win, giving up a single to Eduardo Nunez before he was erased trying to steal second; replays showed he was barely safe.

Nunez, Brett Gardner and Robinson Cano had three hits apiece for the Yankees. New York had runners at first and second with one out in the 10th but Drake Britton, making his second major-league appearance, got Lyle Overbay to ground into a double play.

"Only his second time out there, against a good club and our rivals," Saltalamacchia said.

The Red Sox are 60-40 through their first 100 games, 1½ games in front of the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East and seven in front of the fourth-place Yankees. Boston won the three-game series between the longtime rivals on a weekend when New York learned that both shortstop Derek Jeter and third baseman Alex Rodriguez won't be able to return from the disabled list any time soon.

"We battled back and gave ourselves an opportunity to win that game," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "It's a shame we had to lose in extra innings."

Boston moved Ryan Dempster up in the rotation to give Jon Lester a couple of extra days' rest after the All-Star break, but things started off poorly for the Red Sox right-hander.

Gardner, who also had three hits on Saturday, led off the game with a single, and then went to third when Dempster fielded Ichiro Suzuki's comebacker and threw it into center field for an error. Suzuki stole second, and Saltalamacchia threw the ball into center for another error that allowed Gardner to score and Suzuki to move to third. He scored on Vernon Wells' single to make it 2-0.

New York took a 3-0 lead in the second on Cano's RBI single.

The Red Sox rallied with a four-run third inning, taking the lead on Napoli's three-run homer.Shane Victorino added a two-run single in the fourth on a high chopper that bounced over the third baseman's head, and Jonny Gomes homered in the fifth to make it 7-3.

But The Yankees scored two in the sixth on RBI singles by Gardner and Cano before Overbay hit into an inning-ending double play. They tied it 7-all in the seventh on two singles, two walks -- one of them a 15-pitch at-bat by Gardner -- and third baseman Jose Iglesias' error when he charged a bunt and threw the ball into the photographers' box.

That saved CC Sabathia from the loss, despite following up his worst start of the year with one almost as bad. He allowed seven runs on nine hits, two walks and two hit batters, striking out five in five-plus innings.

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