SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Barry Bonds hit his 599th homer and Robb Nen recorded his 300th save Tuesday night as the San Francisco Giants edged the Chicago Cubs in a wild contest, 11-10.
Bonds' 432-foot three-run shot to center field off Steve Smyth in the third inning moved him within one home run of joining Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and his godfather, Willie Mays, in the 600-homer club.
"I was trying to throw a fastball up and it was down the middle," said Smyth, who was making his major league debut. "I threw an 87-mile an hour cookie and of course he's going to hit that out."
Nen, 32, became the youngest player to record 300 saves and the 16th in major league history.
The Giants trailed, 9-8, entering the bottom of the eighth, but loaded the bases off Kyle Farnsworth (3-4) with none out. After Rich Aurilia struck out, Jeff Kent hit a ground ball that bounced off Cubs third baseman Bill Mueller's chest.
Mueller appeared to recover in time to throw out Kent but rushed his throw. The ball one-hopped past first baseman Fred McGriff and all three runners scored on the play, giving the Giants an 11-9 advantage.
Sammy Sosa began the ninth with a single off Nen and advanced to second on McGriff's groundout. Moises Alou plated Sosa with a single to get the Cubs within 11-10, and Corey Patterson followed with a double.
After Nen intentionally walked Delino DeShields to load the bases, Alex Gonzalez struck out looking and was ejected by plate umpire Justin Klemm for arguing the call. Joe Girardi grounded into a force play at second to end the contest.
Todd Worrell (8-1) pitched the eighth inning for the Giants to get the victory, which moved the Giants one-half game ahead of Los Angeles for the lead in the wild card race.
