San Francisco Giants: Barry Bonds hit his fifth home run of spring training as a Giants' split squad beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-2 Wednesday.

	Bonds

Bonds is 8-for-20 (.400) this spring with nine RBI. He also homered against Milwaukee in March 8.

"He's a freak of nature," the Brewers' Richie Sexson said.

Bonds grounded out and popped up in his first two at-bats against starter Ruben Quevedo.

Milwaukee is host to San Francisco in the Brewers' home opener April 4. New manager Ned Yost already has developed a strategy for facing Bonds.

"If the situation doesn't hurt you, you pitch to him," Yost said. "If it's a situation that means anything, you don't pitch to him. We're going to pitch to him all spring, I can tell you that."

Like many managers, Yost is employing an exaggerated shift during Bonds' at-bats. Rather than simply shifting the infielders around to the right, however, Yost moved third baseman Wes Helms behind second base and let shortstop Royce Clayton be the only infielder on the left side.

"You keep your best athlete at shortstop, the guy who can cover the most ground," Yost said. "It's not earth-shattering news, but it's just something different for us. I wish it would help get him out easier."

Prospect Jesse Foppert pitched three perfect innings for the Giants. The 22-year-old, a standout first baseman at the University of San Francisco, made his first start of the spring after four relief outings. He struck out four.

Colorado Rockies: Infielder Greg Norton could be sidelined for 10-14 days after straining his right hamstring in a game against Oakland, manager Clint Hurdle said Wednesday.

"That's really being conservative, but we'll see," Hurdle said.

Norton is 10-for-16 with one home run and six RBI in seven spring games. He is vying for the starting third base job along with Brent Butler, Kevin Eberwein, Kit Pellow and Garrett Atkins.

Hurdle said with Norton injured, the club will take a longer look at the 23-year-old Atkins, who was drafted in the fifth round in 2000 as a first baseman out of UCLA. He moved to third last year in his first season at Double-A Carolina.

Atkins played first base in the Rockies' 5-3 loss to the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, entering in the sixth inning. He is 13-for-19 with one home run and eight RBIs this spring. He has played error-free defense.

Hurdle said Atkins' offensive stats are slightly deceptive.

"We've only faced one pitcher that's gone five innings, and that's (Chicago White Sox left-hander Mark) Buehrle the other day," Hurdle said.

"We're going to start seeing pitchers spin the ball more and change up more. I don't want to take anything away from what he's done, but I think we have to keep proper perspective about it."

Atkins had been ticketed for Double-A this season, but his spring performance may have earned him a promotion. "I think there might be a little furniture rearranging going on there," Hurdle said.

Cincinnati Reds: Ken Griffey Jr. hit his sixth home run of the spring, but Raul Mondesi had three hits to lead the New York Yankees over the Reds 10-5 Wednesday night.

Yankees starter Mike Mussina walked his first batter, then retired nine straight before the Reds touched him for four runs in the fourth.

Griffey hit a two-run homer in the inning and added an RBI double in the fifth.

Mussina allowed four runs -- one earned -- on four hits in four innings, walking one and striking out five. He threw 66 pitches.

Mondesi drove in two runs and scored twice. Hideki Matsui was back in the lineup for the Yankees after missing Tuesday's game with a stiff neck. He went 0-for-3.

Cincinnati's Danny Graves, shifting from closer to starter this season, missed his start with an inflamed tendon in his right knee.

Boston Red Sox: Center fielder Johnny Damon was taken out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against Baltimore because of a slight strain of his left elbow.

Damon could miss up to three days. He sustained the injury, described by Red Sox team physician Dr. Bill Morgan as biceps tendinitis, during batting practice on Tuesday.

If it was the regular season, I could definitely go out and play," he said.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Pitcher Dennys Reyes was released from a hospital Wednesday night after being hit on the top of his head by a liner off the bat of Tampa Bay's Aubrey Huff.

Reyes was treated and released from Bayfront Medical Center and did not have a fracture or concussion, Pirates spokesman Jim Trdinich said. He said Reyes would be evaluated by the team Thursday.

Reyes was struck above the forehead with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning of a split-squad game between the Pirates and Devil Rays. The left-hander sat on the mound for about five minutes while trainers examined him, then left sitting up on a cart.

The team said Reyes was "stable, conscious and coherent" when he left the stadium.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Arizona closer Matt Mantei gave up a tying home run in the ninth inning, but Luis Terrero hit a two-run shot in the bottom half to give the Diamondbacks a 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday.

Todd Helton also homered for the Rockies. Mantei allowed a solo shot to Kevin Eberwein and an infield single to Luke Allen before leaving with an injury to his fingernail.

Arizona manager Bob Brenly said Mantei, coming off a series of arm injuries, had to get a false nail applied to fix the problem on his middle finger. Brenly said the fake nail is pushing everything back into the skin and that's why Mantei was removed from the game.

"Bad finger and all, he still hit 96 in there, so the arm strength is there but the fingernail strength is not," Brenly joked.

Mantei was relieved by winning pitcher Manny Aybar, who struck out two and got Gabe Kapler on a fly ball to end the inning.

Terrero's homer came on a 3-2 pitch from reliever Brad Clontz.

"I don't think I had extras in me today," Brenly said.

Craig Counsell started at second base instead of third. Brenly has said Counsell has plenty of arm strength since coming back from neck surgery last August, but his throws from third have been inconsistent this spring.

San Diego Padres: Mark Loretta went 4-for-4 with a two-run double, and Adam Eaton took another step back from elbow surgery as the Padres rallied to tie the Chicago Cubs 6-6 Wednesday.

"I think he's fully recovered," manager Bruce Bochy said of Eaton. "We'll see how he feels tomorrow but it looks like he's 100 percent.'"

Eaton allowed three runs -- two earned -- and six hits in four innings. The Cubs put the first two runners on in the first and loaded the bases with no outs in the second but could only manage one unearned run on Eaton's throwing error.

Pinch-hitter Troy O'Leary hit a two-run double in the fourth for the Cubs.

"I had to work out there," Eaton said. "After the second inning, I felt like I had already thrown four."

Eaton missed most of last year recovering from elbow ligament replacement surgery before coming back to make six starts in September. He struggled at first but went 1-0 with a 1.71 ERA in his final three starts.

"I came back last year," he said. "This is a whole new year. It's still in my head but I'm not recovering. I'm healthy. I feel great. This is the way I felt before I got hurt."

Eaton also showed off some of his other abilities when he scored San Diego's first run of the game. He led off the third inning with a walk against Shawn Estes and went to second on Mark Loretta's single.

Philadelphia Philles: Pitcher Brandon Duckworth has no ligament damage in his pitching arm, only mild tendinitis in his right forearm.

Duckworth started Sunday's game against Cincinnati, but he left after just one inning. He had an MRI Tuesday at a Philadelphia hospital and found out later that his injury wasn't serious. He was back in camp Tuesday night, and could resume throwing within a week.

Duckworth is expected to be the Phillies' fifth starter.

Meanwhile, Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal, who accompanied Duckworth to Philadelphia, had a cortisone shot to treat an abdominal strain. A two-time All-Star, Lieberthal has been sidelined since starting the Phillies' spring opener Feb. 27.

The Phillies were hoping Lieberthal could return to their lineup Thursday, but he'll need a few extra days to recover from the cortisone shot. Lieberthal had a similar stress injury in 1998. That one ended his season in July.