NEW YORK – Barry Bonds doubled on the first pitch he saw, scored a run, drew a ton of wrath and had a syringe thrown at him. It wasn't a great start to 2006 for the embattled slugger.
The sellout crowd at Petco Park mercilessly booed Bonds every chance it got during the San Diego Padres' 6-1 win over the San Francisco Giants.
As he jogged off the field after the eighth inning, someone threw a syringe at him.
Bonds picked it up with his glove, then threw if off the field.
The syringe apparently did not have a needle.
"I just put it off the field so no one would get hurt," said Bonds, who is under investigation by baseball for alleged steroid use.
"If that's what they want to do, embarrass themselves, then that's on them," Bonds said. "That has nothing to do with me at all."
According to the book "Game of Shadows," written by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters, Bonds used a vast array of performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids and human growth hormone, for at least five seasons beginning in 1998. According to the book, Bonds used several substances in various forms, including by injecting himself with a syringe and taking injections from his personal trainer.
Bonds has denied using performance-enhancing drugs.
Mike Piazza homered on his first swing with the Padres leading off the second inning. Khalil Greene hit a two-run shot practically over Bonds' head in the sixth, and finished with three RBIs.
The only time Bonds hit a ball out of the park was when he bounced a ground-rule double on the first pitch he saw this season, from Padres ace Jake Peavy. Bonds scored the Giants' only run on Lance Niekro's two-out single.
In the sixth, Bonds came up with first base open, a runner on second and the Padres leading 2-1.
The thought of walking Bonds never crossed the mind of 24-year-old Peavy as he huddled on the mound with pitching coach Darren Balsley and catcher Mike Piazza.
Peavy got Bonds to fly out to center field for the second out, then retired the side.
Balsley "walked up and said, `What do you want to do right here?'" Peavy said. "I said, `I want to pitch to him and get him out.' And Balsley said, `OK.' Mike said, `What do you want?' I said, `Fastball away.' And we made a fastball down and away, and he got out."
The Padres have been burned for 81 of Bonds' 708 career homers, but he didn't hit one Monday.
"I mean, I just felt like I could make a good pitch and get him out," Peavy said. "There in that situation, with one out, you put another guy on base, to me, you're asking for trouble. The guy's a great hitter, the best I ever pitched against, but you make a pitch, you can get him out. I felt confident in my ability to make that that pitch. I didn't want to put any more guys on base."
Bonds was 1-for-4.
"I felt fine today," he said.
So the did the Padres.
"It would be hard to put together a better game than we did," manager Bruce Bochy said.
Piazza tied it leading off the second by driving a 1-0 pitch from Jason Schmidt over the fence in right-center to tie the game at 1. Piazza signed as a free agent in the offseason after his $91 million, seven-year contract with the New York Mets expired.
"Mike announced his presence," Peavy said.
"It's a big ballpark. He took a little off down over the plate, and I really got great extension on the ball and I was like, `Man, if that doesn't go out, I might have to consider hanging it up,'" Piazza said.
Padres rookie Josh Barfield, son of former AL home run champ Jesse Barfield, singled to center leading off the fifth for his first big league hit. He scored his first run on Eric Young's sacrifice fly to give the Padres a 2-1 lead.
"It was awesome," Josh Barfield said. "That was a dream come true. It was kind of everything I expected, and more."
Jesse Barfield said he got a little teary-eyed seeing his son wearing No. 29, the same number he wore during his big league career.
"I'm very proud," said Jesse Barfield, who visited the Padres' clubhouse afterward. "He's worked hard to get to this point, and he's here. They showed confidence and faith in him, and he's going to do the same for him."
Peavy got the win by holding the Giants to a run and four hits in seven innings while striking out five and walking one. He led the NL with 216 strikeouts last year.
Scott Linebrink and Clay Hensley completed the five-hitter.
Schmidt went seven in taking the loss, allowing four runs and seven hits while striking two and walking one.