Giants 8, White Sox 4

CHICAGO (AP) Barry Bonds looked overmatched in his first three at-bats against Bartolo Colon, striking out swinging each time. The home run king said it was all part of his plan.

``Those three strikeouts were just to psyche myself up,'' Bonds joked.

Bonds then got the best of Colon in his fourth at-bat, hitting a tying two-run homer in San Francisco's six-run ninth as the Giants beat the Chicago White Sox 8-4 Thursday night.

``Barry doesn't surprise me anymore,'' Giants manager Felipe Alou said. ``It was power against power. Colon won the first three times, but Barry won when it counted.''

Ray Durham singled leading off the ninth inning, and Bonds hit the next pitch for his 631st home run, 18th this season. He also homered Tuesday night.

San Francisco then loaded the bases on singles by Benito Santiago and Pedro Feliz, and an intentional walk to Edgardo Alfonzo.

Pinch-hitter Rich Aurilia came to the plate still fighting the effects of a virus that has hit several San Francisco players. Aurilia hit an 0-1 pitch from reliever Damaso Marte over the left-field fence for a grand slam, the first pinch-hit slam for the Giants since Aug. 21, 2000.

``He threw me a slider and I put it in the air. I wasn't sure it was going to go out,'' Aurilia said.

Colon (6-6) was cruising along with a three-hitter going into the ninth, but ended up getting charged with seven earned runs and a loss.

Chicago manager Jerry Manuel said Colon is the strongest pitcher and he felt he could close out the game, like he had in three of his previous four starts.

``He had challenged (Bonds) all night and won. It would have been difficult for me to take him out at that time.''

Colon allowed seven runs and seven hits in 8 1-3 innings. He became the first pitcher to strike out Bonds three times in one game since Anaheim's Scott Schoenweis on June 13, 2001.

Joe Nathan (7-3) pitched two hitless innings, and Todd Worrell finished with a one-hit ninth. Giants starter Kirk Rueter, who has won five straight decisions, gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings.

San Francisco won two of three games in the first series between the teams that counted since the White Sox beat the New York Giants 4-2 in the 1917 World Series.

Chicago's Joe Crede was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, tying a career high for hits.

Tony Graffanino singled in the first and Frank Thomas hit his 14th homer. He is batting .400 (20-for-50) since moving from designated hitter to first base two weeks ago.

Marvin Benard pulled the Giants to 2-1 in the third with an RBI grounder, but Crede hit a two-run single in the bottom half following walks to Thomas and Lee.

Jose Cruz Jr. hit his 10th homer on the first pitch of the fifth inning.< ^Notes:@ San Francisco's J.T. Snow and Andres Galarraga were out of the lineup, the latest victims of a virus that has made its way through the team. Pedro Feliz was inserted at first, although he hadn't played there this year. ... A third-inning single snapped an 0-for-15 streak for Paul Konerko. He remains in a 2-for-38 slump.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)