SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Barry Bonds hit his 600th career homer Friday night, becoming the fourth player in baseball history and first in 31 years to reach that plateaus but the San Francisco Giants endured a 4-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Bonds, who set the single-season home run mark in 2001 with 73, joined godfather Willie Mays (660), Babe Ruth (714) and Hank Aaron (755) as long ball legends.
"It's an honor for anybody," Bonds said. "They're considered the greatest baseball players to ever live. To be in that select group is special. What makes it more satisfying is that it was done in front of 40,000 friends in San Francisco. Nothing can be more gratifying than that."
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Bonds worked the count to 2-1 against Pirates starter Kip Wells before launching the milestone drive over the center field wall for a solo homer.
"He's a great hitter, that's why he's got 600 home runs," Wells said. "It wasn't a wonderful pitch, but it wasn't a bad one either. He hits mistakes and good pitches out of the park. I had a front row seat to see the whole thing. I'm the only guy that could say I gave it up."
Bonds needed just 710 at-bats to go from 500 to 600 homers in consecutive seasons.
"He deserves to be honored and appreciated," said Giants outfielder Shawon Dunston, who has 667 career RBI in 18 seasons. "He's the best player I've ever seen. We just take him for granted because he hits his home runs so easy."
Aaron was the last player to achieve the feat, hitting his 600th homer in 1971. Bonds reached the milestone in fewer at-bats than both Mays and Aaron, accomplishing the feat in 8,212 at-bats. Ruth was the fastest player to 600 homers, needing 6,921 at-bats.
Bonds said he won't catch Aaron in the quest to become baseball's all-time home run king.
"That won't happen," Bonds said. "Every year gets harder. It gets tougher on me. In the next four years, my at-bats will decrease. After four more years, I'm out of here. I'm sorry guys, that's it for me."
Bonds, who came up with the Pirates in 1986, has hit 176 homers with Pittsburgh and 424 with the Giants. The only four-time MVP in history, Bonds has a National League-record 11 consecutive 30-homer seasons, one shy of Jimmie Foxx's major league mark.
Nowhere near as historic as Bonds' blast, Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the first for the Pirates off Jason Schmidt (7-6).
Wells recovered from Bonds' homer and got the win after allowing three runs and six hits in 7 1/3 innings. The righthander walked one and matched a career high with eight strikeouts.
Brian Boehringer and Scott Sauerbeck got an out apiece in the eighth before Mike Williams worked around a hit in the ninth for his 34th save, tying Jim Gott's club record set in 1988.
Ramirez gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the first with his ninth homer.
In the bottom of the inning, Kenny Lofton led off with a single and Rich Aurilia followed with his 11th homer to tie it.
Both Schmidt and Wells settled in after allowing the long balls, and the game remained tied until the sixth.
Consecutive singles by Jason Kendall and Jack Wilson started the inning and Brian Giles walked to load the bases. Ramirez followed with his single up the middle, giving the Pirates a 4-2 lead.
Schmidt, a former Pirate, averted further damage, getting Kevin Young to bounce into a double play before striking out former Giant Armando Rios.
Two innings after the historic homer, Bonds came to the plate with two runners on and two outs. But Sauerbeck got him to ground to second baseman Pokey Reese, who was playing in shallow right field.
