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  Wednesday, Jun. 14 3:35pm ET
Bonds day-to-day; Kent goes 3-for-4
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The searing heat took both teams by surprise. The Giants managed to deal with it a little better, at least on the scoreboard.

Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds (25) is greeted by teammates after scoring from second base on a single by Jeff Kent in the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday. Bonds left the game after the play with a strained right groin.

Barry Bonds doubled and scored before leaving with a groin injury and Kirk Rueter pitched six strong innings as the Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-2 Wednesday, completing a three-game sweep on a broiling day in San Francisco.

"That was a hot one," Cincinnati manager Jack McKeon said.

The temperature soared to 103 degrees, matching San Francisco's all-time high and marking just the 12th time since 1891 the mercury hit the century mark in the city. Many fans draped their shirts over their heads to ward off the heat and the team mascot Lou Seal used a water gun to spray a cooling mist over people in the crowd.

"It was really kind of a shock," Giants catcher Doug Mirabelli said. "We haven't had a day like this in a while, if ever. But we had plenty of water and cold towels. You come into the dugout hot and cool off. It wasn't too bad."

Losing pitcher Denny Neagle said the last thing he expected was having to deal with the extraordinary heat in the typically fog-shrouded city.

"That's the first game I've pitched on a hot, sweltering day in San Francisco," he said. "That was strange. You sure could feel it. But my problem the last couple starts has been mechanical. And it's taken me too long to figure out what I'm doing wrong. That was the case today. It was tough being down after the first inning."

A team spokesman, meanwhile, said the removal of Bonds from the game was precautionary and described his status as day-to-day. Trainer Stane Conte said through a team spokesman that Bonds was walking well after the game and could be ready to play again as early as Friday, when the Giants play their next game, against the Houston Astros.

Bonds, who leads the majors with 25 home runs, doubled off Neagle in the first inning -- his 1,092nd hit with the Giants, tying Matt Williams for eighth on San Francisco's career list.

Jeff Kent followed with a double, scoring Bonds, who apparently was injured in the run for home. Ellis Burks had an RBI double and Russ Davis added an RBI single to put San Francisco up 3-1.

Armando Rios replaced Bonds in left field in the top of the second.

Kent finished 3-for-4 with a double, triple and two RBI to highlight San Francisco's attack, which produced the team's first three-game home sweep of the Reds since June 1-3, 1998.

"It was surprisingly hot," Kent said. "We're not accustomed to playing in something like that, but it's not tough to play in it. It just wears you down. It takes its toll. It really helped to score early. You get more tired as the game goes on, so it was good to get the runs early."

Rueter (4-4) allowed one run on five hits, walked two and struck out one in winning a second straight outing after a stretch of seven winless starts.

Felix Rodriguez got the last four outs for his first save with the Giants.

Neagle (5-2) went six innings and allowed five runs on 10 hits. He struck out two and walked one in the Reds' eighth loss in nine games.

Kent's run-scoring triple in the fifth gave San Francisco a 4-1 lead and Calvin Murray added an RBI single in the sixth and a run-scoring double in the eighth.

Barry Larkin snapped an 0-for-12 string with a homer off John Johnstone in the eighth, and Dmitri Young had an RBI single in the first for the Reds.

Notes: The only other time the temperature reached 103 in San Francisco was July 17, 1988. ... After the game, the Reds optioned infielder D.T. Cromer to Triple-A Louisville and recalled infielder Alex Ochoa from Louisville. ... Third baseman Aaron Boone has some swelling around his eyes near the bridge of his nose, which was cracked when he was struck in the face Tuesday night by a fastball from San Francisco pitcher Russ Ortiz. Boone was listed as day-to-day, though Reds officials said he was available to play in an emergency and could be back in the lineup in a couple days. ... San Francisco manager Dusty Baker turns 51 on Thursday. ... Kent's run-scoring hits gave him 62 RBI on the season. It's the third time in his career he's exceeded 60 RBI before the All-Star break. He also did it in 1997 and '99. ... Over the last three-plus seasons, the Reds have just 12 wins in 35 games against the Giants. ... The Giants (31-31) reached .500 for the first time since June 5, when they were 27-27.

 


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