Bonds matches McGwire's record with three, walks

Needing three to match Mark McGwire's record, Barry Bonds got them at Dodger Stadium. Walks, that is. <br><br>Bonds stayed at 67 home runs, but tied Big Mac's NL mark of 162 walks and helped the

Thursday, September 27th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Needing three to match Mark McGwire's record, Barry Bonds got them at Dodger Stadium. Walks, that is.

Bonds stayed at 67 home runs, but tied Big Mac's NL mark of 162 walks and helped the San Francisco Giants rally in the ninth inning Wednesday night for a 6-4 victory over Los Angeles.

``Arizona won, so we had to win,'' Bonds said. ``It was a good game, a lot of pressure for both sides. It was fun.''

The Giants overcame a 4-3 deficit in the ninth, with Bonds scoring the go-ahead run after a walk. He went 1-for-2.

San Francisco remained 1 1/2 games behind Arizona in the NL West and three games behind St. Louis in the wild card race.

``Every one now is our biggest win of the year,'' Giants manager Dusty Baker said. ``It was our biggest comeback against a quality guy.''

In other NL games, Arizona beat Milwaukee 15-9, St. Louis downed Houston 5-1, Philadelphia blanked Cincinnati 8-0, Atlanta defeated Florida 4-1, New York beat Montreal 5-2, San Diego topped Colorado 3-1 and Chicago beat Pittsburgh 8-4.

McGwire set the major league record of 70 home runs in 1998, the same season he drew all those walks. Babe Ruth walked a record 170 times in 1923.

The Giants are off Thursday, and begin a three-game series at home Friday night against San Diego. Bonds has nine games left.

Benito Santiago's sacrifice fly off Jeff Shaw tied it in the Giants' ninth, and John Vander Wal hit a two-out, two-run single off Jesse Orosco.

Robb Nen earned his league-leading 42nd save in 49 chances, getting Adrian Beltre on a fly ball to the warning track with runners on first and second for the final out.

``Vandy won that game, man, and Robb closed it,'' Bonds said. ``Go talk to them, let them have the credit. I'm just glad we won, that's all that's important right now.''

The Dodgers, playing their last home game of the season, dropped 4 1/2 games behind Arizona.

Shawn Green, who has a franchise-record 48 homers and 119 RBIs, sat out in observance of Yom Kippur, the holiest holiday on the Jewish calendar. He had played in 415 straight games, the longest active streak in baseball.