SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent have had run-ins before -- only this time they did it in view of a television camera.

	Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds go at it on Tuesday.

One day after their feud in the San Francisco Giants' dugout, Bonds and Kent weren't in the mood to shed any more light on the cause of the confrontation.

"I spoke my piece yesterday,'' Kent said before Wednesday's game against the San Diego Padres.

Tuesday night's scrum appeared to begin with Kent yelling at third baseman David Bell. Bonds became involved and as the argument escalated, he shoved Kent. Bonds and Kent had to be separated, and TV replays showed trainer Stan Conte holding back manager Dusty Baker.

"You expect the competitive adrenaline to be flowing on a good team,'' Kent said. "Athletes operate on the edge and things like that happen. It's not good and it's not bad. It just happens.''

On Tuesday night, Kent said the dispute wasn't a "big deal'' and that this altercation could be added to the "half-dozen times we've done it before.''

Bonds has refused to comment on the dispute, which Giants manager Dusty Baker said was blown out of proportion.

"We've been treading water lately, struggling,'' Baker said. "Things like that happen all the time. It usually doesn't happen in view of everybody on television. You saw the effect. The cause is our business.''

Baker likened the altercation to the military.

"It's like on the last day of boot camp the sergeant asks if there's anyone who doesn't like someone and they fight it out,'' said Baker. "That way, you don't carry a grudge into battle.''

Baker said he's treating it as a positive thing.

"You hear about stuff all the time,'' he said. "Sometimes it's better to get it out. I don't like the way it happened, but you're talking about a bunch of dudes with a lot of pride, a lot of everything. I don't know why people expect us to get along all the time.''

Neither Bonds or Bell was in the starting lineup on Wednesday, but Baker said that was something scheduled and had nothing to do with Tuesday's incident.