Bonds Held Out Of Starting Lineup For Second Straight Day

CHICAGO (AP) _ Exactly a week before Barry Bonds' 43rd birthday, the effects of his age started to really show. <br/><br/>Bonds got a second straight day off Tuesday, with San Francisco skipper Bruce

Tuesday, July 17th 2007, 5:33 pm

By: News On 6

CHICAGO (AP) _ Exactly a week before Barry Bonds' 43rd birthday, the effects of his age started to really show.

Bonds got a second straight day off Tuesday, with San Francisco skipper Bruce Bochy holding the slugger out of the starting lineup again to rest his sore body.

Bochy initially had hinted Bonds might sit out Tuesday, but then said after Monday's game that No. 25 would be a go the next night against the Chicago Cubs.

Bonds last sat in back-to-back games June 5-6 at Arizona while dealing with shin splints. Bochy has said the shins aren't the issue, though Bonds has acknowledged in recent days his legs, feet and toes are swollen _ and that he's just plain exhausted.

And he said during the weekend, when he played all 30 innings in a three-game sweep by the rival Los Angeles Dodgers, that he was still recovering from the All-Star festivities last week in San Francisco.

He was scratched for Monday night's 3-2 series-opening loss at Wrigley Field after telling the trainers he didn't feel good enough to play.

The Giants play consecutive afternoon games Wednesday and Thursday against the Cubs before a three-game weekend series against the Brewers in Milwaukee.

``It's a day-night game with a left-hander tonight,'' Cubs manager Lou Piniella said Tuesday. ``With (Carlos) Zambrano (Wednesday), I'm sure he'll be in there. It's not easy for an older player. It's difficult.''

Zambrano, a right-hander, is an 11-game winner this season.

A federal grand jury is investigating whether Bonds perjured himself when he testified in 2003 in the BALCO steroid distribution case that he hadn't knowingly taken performance-enhancing drugs. The panel's term could expire as soon as Thursday, but prosecutors also might ask a judge to extend the grand jury's tenure.

Bonds is mired in an 0-for-20 slump, his worst hitless stretch since his record-breaking 2001 season. He played in 81 of the club's first 90 games through Monday night and was selected as a starter for last Tuesday's All-Star game in his home ballpark _ his first All-Star game since 2004.

Bonds was in an 0-for-17 funk before hitting his 746th homer against the Rockies on May 27. He had a hitless stretch of 21 at-bats from April 5-12, 2001 _ the year he broke Mark McGwire's single-season home run record with 73 _ and had a career-worst 0-for-23 drought from July 6-20, 1986, during his rookie year.