SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Barry Bonds' chase after his 600th home run last week disguised a discomfiting fact of life for his team: while Bonds was certain to get his homer, the San Francisco Giants are no sure thing to make the playoffs.

The Giants haven't yet made the second-half surge that has characterized manager Dusty Baker's previous two clubs, which were a combined 95-56 after the All-Star break - the NL's best mark over that period.

In 2000, San Francisco rose all the way to baseball's best record at 97-65. In 2001, the Giants missed the playoffs but gave another fine late-season effort, finishing two games behind eventual world champion Arizona in the NL West and three games behind St. Louis in the wild card race.

This summer, the Giants are 16-14 since the break, losing 10 of their last 19 games despite a 4-2 homestand against the Cubs and Pittsburgh.

"It's getting to the point where we've got to turn it around and start either catching Arizona or taking control of this wild card race," said Jeff Kent, whose torrid hitting helped carry San Francisco through nearly a month of inconsistent offense and starting pitching.

San Francisco opens a six-game road trip on Tuesday night with the first of three games against Atlanta, which has the majors' best record at 77-40, before three weekend games at Florida.

With seven weeks left in the regular season, San Francisco (65-52) has the fourth-best record in the league - but Arizona's division lead stands at a healthy 7½ games over the third-place Giants, who are a half-game behind Los Angeles in the wild card standings.

Injuries seem to be the primary culprit in the Giants' recent mediocrity. Just three weeks ago, San Francisco's entire starting outfield - Bonds, Reggie Sanders and Tsuyoshi Shinjo - was sidelined by hamstring injuries.

As Bonds and Sanders gradually returned, the Giants acquired Kenny Lofton in a trade with the White Sox - and he sat out San Francisco's final two games against the Pirates to rest his own balky hamstring.

Complicating matters, Bonds and Sanders couldn't be put on the disabled list to allow general manager Brian Sabean to bring in replacements, since nobody knew exactly when they would be healthy enough to play.

Bonds, Sanders and Shinjo still aren't completely healthy, and they might not get better until winter. Every day, Baker must decide which parts of his lineup to risk - and which parts to save for another day.

"It's not stretch time yet," Baker said. "We've only got about a third of the season left, though. If they miss a game now, it's 1-47th of the season. Each day we play, it narrows down a bit more until it's 1-30th, 1-20th and so on."

Bonds understands the urgency of the Giants' situation, even with 45 games left. That's why he played in all six games of San Francisco's recent homestand, even though Baker and trainer Stan Conte thought he would benefit from one or two days of rest.

A World Series ring is the only item missing from Bonds' resume, and he knows it.

"We're down to the point of the season where every game can make the difference," Bonds said. "It's gut-wrenching time."

Bonds has received all the attention lately, but Kent is the engine driving the Giants. Kent, the 2000 MVP, went 3-for-6 with his 24th homer Sunday to improve to .357 in the Giants' last 31 games - a stretch in which he's had hitting streaks of 13 and 10 games. While Bonds, the 2001 MVP, leads the majors with a .359 average, Kent is fifth at .330 - and Kent leads the NL with 149 hits.

Though he's a free agent after the season, Kent hasn't set his sights on his future just yet.

"The way I look at it, there's still two places up for grabs, but the Diamondbacks are playing so well," Kent said. "You can't just be thinking about the wild card, though. You know me: I shoot for the moon."

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