SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Barry Bonds, the only major leaguer to hit a ball into San Francisco Bay, now has done it three times.

Bonds' 13th and 14th homers of the season, both solo shots, splashed into McCovey Cove behind right field, and the San Francisco Giants defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 Wednesday.

	Barry Bonds connects for the first of his two homers, this one off of Andy Benes in the third inning.

Bonds' second homer, leading off the eighth against Heathcliff Slocumb (0-2), broke a 3-3 tie. Fans who came to new Pacific Bell Park wondering whether Mark McGwire could hit a ball into the giant mitt beyond the left-field bleachers saw Bonds steal the show.

"Big Mac can hit them farther than any man alive, or dead," Giants manager Dusty Baker said. "But Barry can hit them as consistently as anyone."

Felix Rodriguez (3-0), who got all three of his wins on the homestand that ended Wednesday, pitched one inning and Robb Nen got three outs for his sixth save, striking out Larry Sutton to end the game with a runner on second.

Bonds became the first player to hit a homer into the bay on May 1 and has all three splashdowns at Pacific Bell Park. Bonds, who broke an 0-for-16 slump with his 12th homer in the seventh inning of Tuesday night's 13-6 loss to St. Louis, went 2-for-3 Wednesday with a walk.

"We just made a stupid pitch. If you don't execute, all the research is in vain with one pitch," Slocumb said. "I sort of got lazy there. The ball ran in, he paused and he recognized it, and he's a good enough hitter he can make you pay."

Bonds' homer Tuesday also came off Slocumb, who had gotten Bonds out in seven of their eight confrontations coming into the series.

"You can't keep a good thing down forever," Bonds said. "Eventually, I'm going to get him."

Bonds has played the last five games with a stiff neck, but Baker said his left fielder apparently was not too bothered by it Wednesday.

"If he was hurting, maybe it was from watching that ball splash into the water," Baker said.

The Giants also scored on RBI singles by Doug Mirabelli in the second and Bill Mueller in the fifth.

Edgar Renteria hit a solo homer for St. Louis in the fifth, his seventh of the season. The Cardinals scored twice in the first on an RBI double by Jim Edmonds and a run-scoring groundout by Eric Davis.

Andy Benes pitched seven innings for St. Louis, allowing three runs and six hits, and striking out five. San Francisco starter Kirk Rueter also allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings.

Game notes
McGwire went 0-for-1 with three walks -- two intentional -- for the Cardinals. ... Bonds got his 767th and 768th RBI while wearing a Giants uniform, passing Orlando Cepeda for eighth place in franchise history. ... Rueter, a native of Hoyletown, Ill., who grew up as a fan of the nearby Cardinals, has a 7-3 career mark against St. Louis. ... San Francisco RF Ellis Burks was out of the starting lineup for the ninth time in the last 11 games because of a strained left quadriceps. ... The three-game series marked the only visit by St. Louis to Pacific Bell Park this season. ... A dropped fly ball by center fielder Edmonds in the fourth was only the 14th error by the Cardinals this season. ... The Giants, who have won 14 of 17, went 9-3 on the homestand. It was their first homestand with nine victories since going 9-4 from Sept. 11-24, 1989. ... The Cardinals are 0-11 this season when they make an error. ... It was the 43rd multihomer game for Bonds, tying him with Lou Gehrig and Dave Kingman for 13th on the career list. Babe Ruth had 72 multihomer games.