SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Barry Bonds gave his legs their stiffest in-game test of the spring, scoring from first on a double and running after balls in the outfield during the San Francisco Giants' 7-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Friday.
Bonds, who played only 14 games last season after undergoing three operations on his right knee, played his fifth game of the spring and third in left field. Bonds played five innings in the field, matching his longest stint of the spring and giving him 11 innings in all in the field.
His legs hadn't been tested much so far in exhibition games, as he homered in three of his first nine at-bats, moved station-to-station on the bases and had only one ball hit his way in left field before Friday.
"He had to do a couple of things he hadn't done all spring -- score from first base, go in the gap," Giants manager Felipe Alou said.
Bonds only said his legs felt "good" before leaving Scottsdale Stadium after the game. Alou said he would give his star slugger the day off Saturday and start him in left field again Sunday against Milwaukee, when Bonds is scheduled for four plate appearances.
Bonds grounded out in his first at-bat against Greg Maddux before singling on a hard smash off first baseman John Mabry that went into shallow right field. Bonds slapped Maddux on his rear as he crossed first base.
"It's spring training, and you don't have to walk him. You've got that going for you," Maddux said. "Yeah, it was fun to actually face him and not have to worry about winning the game and walking him."
The next batter, Mark Sweeney, hit a ball into the right field corner and Bonds lumbered all the way home from first, scoring standing up ahead of the relay throw.
After fielding just one ball his first two games, Bonds got his most serious test in the field this spring. In the second inning, Aramis Ramirez hit a high fly to shallow left center that Bonds barely moved for. Steve Finley came running over from center and the ball fell for a single, starting a five-run inning against Noah Lowry.
Bonds caught a routine fly by Henry Blanco with the bases loaded later in the inning but it was too deep for a throw home and Mabry scored on the sacrifice fly. Later in the game, he caught a fly ball from Todd Walker near the foul line.
Bonds is 8-for-11 with three homers in his five spring games this year. Before the game, Cubs manager Dusty Baker asked how Bonds was doing. When given the stats, Baker said: "That don't shock me. He'll be hitting when he's old."
Baker also said that extensive allegations in two upcoming books about Bonds' steroid use have not changed his opinion of the player he managed for 10 seasons in San Francisco.
"Until you have 100 percent facts it can't change," he said. "The main thing is it doesn't seem like it has affected him."
Bonds enters the season needing seven home runs to pass Babe Ruth on the career list and 48 to break Hank Aaron's all-time record of 755.
Maddux (2-0), preparing for his 21st major league season, earned the win by allowing one run and five hits in four innings.
"I feel like I'm getting close and ready to start the season," he said. "Hopefully next week, spring training will get real old and boring and I'll be even more excited to start the season."
Lowry allowed five runs -- two earned -- and three hits in three innings, getting hurt by a pair of second-inning errors by shortstop Tomas De La Rosa. The Giants made five errors in all, including two by third baseman Angel Chavez.
Ramirez had two hits and a home run to lead the Cubs.
Kevin Frandsen, the only member of the Giants to play every game this spring, hit a two-run triple in the ninth inning.
Notes
Cubs RHP Mark Prior will meet with Dr. Lewis Yocum and the team's medical staff Saturday to determine the next course of action as he tries to recover from a strained right shoulder that will likely cause him to miss the start of the season. Prior is being shut down for seven to 10 days. ... Cubs 1B Derrek Lee and C Michael Barrett will rejoin the team Saturday after playing for the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic. Barrett is expected to start Saturday against the White Sox, while Lee will get some time off as he deals with a bruised left shoulder sustained in the Classic. ... OF Randy Winn is expected to rejoin the Giants on Saturday after playing in the Classic and could start Sunday. ... San Francisco closer Armando Benitez (swollen left knee) could throw off a mound Saturday or Sunday.
