Football
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Glavine, Mets overcome Bonds' HR

A CLOSER LOOK
• Summary: Barry Bonds blasted his 745th career home run, but that's all the offense the Giants could muster as Tom Glavine and the Mets won 4-1.

• Turning point: The Mets used three straight doubles and a sacrifice fly to hand Glavine a 3-0 lead after one-half inning.

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Glavine

• Hero: Glavine won his third straight decision and his 294th career game.

• Did you see that? Carlos Beltran offered to cut his teammates hair as a bonding exercise before the game, and almost all of the Mets took him up on it.

• Quotable: "It's not part of my pregame ritual." -- Glavine on skipping the barber shop experience

• Elias Says: Bonds had not gone deep against Glavine in his previous 32 at bats.

-- ESPN.com news services

Mets 4, Giants 1

SAN FRANCISCO (ESPN.com news services) -- Tom Glavine moved a victory closer to 300 and allowed Barry Bonds to hone in on Hank Aaron, too -- then the pitcher got his head buzzed like everybody else.

After an afternoon of haircuts and team bonding, Glavine won his 294th game despite allowing Bonds' 745th home run, and the New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants 4-1 on Tuesday night.

"I was trying to be aggressive and go after him," Glavine said. "He doesn't swing at any bad pitches. ... His first at-bat I threw him a little bit of everything. The second time I throw a slider and it got too much of the plate.

"But give him credit, when he gets his pitch, he hits it."

Jose Reyes, along with Glavine one of a handful of New York players not to cut their hair beforehand, doubled and tripled in his first two at-bats -- clearly content with his choice to keep his twisty curls. He extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

Bonds moved within 10 homers of Aaron's record 755, connecting on the first pitch from Glavine for a solo shot over the center-field wall with one out in the fourth. Bonds' 11th homer of the season pulled the Giants within 4-1.

Bonds rounded the bases as "745" flashed on the main scoreboard. The seven-time NL MVP tipped his hat as he walked out to his spot in left field in the top of the fifth to a standing ovation.

It was Bonds' fourth career homer off Glavine and the first in 10 years against the left-hander -- since an inside-the-park homer April 23, 1997, at Candlestick Park when Glavine was with the Atlanta Braves.

"Awesome," Giants starter Matt Cain said. "Sometimes we forget, but he swings it like he's a 22-year-old or 23-year-old."

The 42-year-old Bonds homered on May 8 for the first time in his career, leaving Aug. 5 and Sept. 30 as the only days in the regular season he has yet to hit one out. He authenticated some equipment afterward and made a swift exit, and manager Bruce Bochy was still unsure whether the slugger would play in the series finale Wednesday afternoon.

The Giants know that they're getting closer to witnessing baseball history.

"Our focus is winning ballgames," Bochy said. "They go hand in hand, his home runs and winning ballgames."

Bonds grounded out to second on a 10-pitch at-bat leading off the second. He walked for the 31st time this season with two outs in the sixth and Omar Vizquel aboard on a single, then struck out looking in the eighth.

Glavine (4-1) ended a stretch of three straight no-decisions with his first victory since winning at Philadelphia on April 17, allowing one run, seven hits and only his second walk in four starts. He struck out five. Pedro Feliciano pitched a perfect eighth and Billy Wagner finished for his seventh save in as many chances.

"When you don't win, you start fighting the mental part of it," Glavine said. "You feel like something ain't right. It's great to get the win and get back on track."

The Mets tagged Cain (1-3) for three straight doubles -- by Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran -- to start the game and got a first-inning sacrifice fly from Moises Alou on the way to a 3-0 lead for Glavine.

"He's doing a thing a lot of guys at his age don't do," Cain said of the 41-year-old Glavine. "That's unbelievable."

Randy Winn extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an infield single in the third but the Giants didn't muster much offense against Glavine, who beat San Francisco for the first time since June 4, 2005, at Shea Stadium.

It was quite a change after the Giants scored all nine of their runs in a 9-4 win Monday night in the fifth inning, getting a two-run homer and three-run shot from Bengie Molina as well as a three-run homer from Rich Aurilia.

Beltran cut his teammates' hair in the clubhouse bathroom before batting practice, and almost everyone took part. Manager Willie Randolph closely monitored the entire operation, his hair already trimmed close to the head.

"I don't think it was any one guy's idea," Wright told reporters after the game. "Just as a team, we thought about it, got clippers and started doing it. We're trying to get everyone to do it."

Glavine got a special reprieve simply because he was pitching, though the left-hander said he was in no way against doing something so silly in order to bring players closer.

"It's not part of my pregame ritual," he said.

And that ritual has worked well for years now.

"It's unbelievable," Randolph said of Glavine. "He's amazing. He goes out there and keeps you in a game, makes adjustments and continues to show why he's one of the best in the game."

Cain lost his second straight start, allowing four runs and a season-high 10 hits in seven innings. He struck out four and walked one. The 22-year-old right-hander has surrendered 18 total hits in his first two May starts after giving up only 12 hits over five April outings.

He ended April with a 1.54 ERA -- third-lowest in the National League -- but it has since risen to 3.40.

Game notes
Glavine won his 20th game against the Giants. ...Cain was 2 years, 320 days old when Glavine made his debut in 1987. ... Giants CF Dave Roberts missed his third straight game with an inflamed left elbow -- and the club was discussing placing him on the DL as soon as Wednesday. The injury is on his throwing arm, making it painful not only to throw but also to hit. ... Mets RHP John Maine celebrated his 26th birthday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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