Phillies pitchers have Bonds strategy

'WE'RE GOING TO walk him every time."

Charlie Manuel was only half-joking . . . or just incomplete.

What the Phillies manager meant was he is going to walk Barry Bonds every time he can afford to do so when the Giants visit tonight for the first of four games.

Manuel has proven it.

He doesn't care that Bonds is 9-for-54 with two homers and three RBI since the Phils left two losses in San Francisco in a three-game set ending May 6, or that the Giants are 9-13 since then.

He knows that, at any time, Bonds and the Giants can break out, especially at hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park. Bonds stands nine homers shy of Hank Aaron's record of 755 because of that potency.

Manuel doesn't want to afford Bonds a platform from which to launch a hot streak - especially with righthanders Adam Eaton and Jon Lieber likely to face Bonds.

Eaton, tonight's starter, has surrendered nine hits in 25 at-bats to Bonds. It's kind of funny to hear Eaton relive the moments, especially when he's asked how many homers Bonds has hit off him.

"I know of four for sure. I think maybe six all told," Eaton said. "I got him hot, when he hit 73. He started playing catch with the bat and the ball."

Bonds went 4-for-8 with two homers and a double in that 2001 season. Eaton has surrendered a total of four homers - but Bonds' scud-missile doubles often scare pitchers into thinking they went out.

Eaton doesn't mind challenging Bonds.

"He knows when I face him, he's going to get strikes," Eaton said. "I know, the last couple of weeks he's been in a little funk. But he's a once-in-an-era player. When he's hot, you can't throw him anything."

Eaton, a former Padre - the club against whom Bonds has hit the most homers (86) - believes he knows when Bonds is hot.

"The closer he is to the plate, the better he's feeling. He doesn't feel as quick when he's not close," Eaton said. However, even when he's cold, "You try to throw him straight balls in . . . "

You get hammered.

Lieber has been getting hammered lately.

Before his elbow surgery in 2002, Lieber had Bonds' number. Bonds was just 5-for-36 with three homers, four walks and seven strikeouts.

The past two seasons Bonds has owned Lieber: 3-for-4 with two homers, five walks and no strikeouts.

Jon?

"I don't want to talk about Barry," he said.

He'll broach that subject, most likely tersely, after his scheduled start Monday - assuming the Phillies don't skip him in favor of Jamie Moyer, against whom Bonds is 8-for-37 with five homers.

Both Lieber and Eaton faced Bonds in San Francisco when the teams met in early May, as did Moyer, who won't pitch this series.

Combined, the two righthanders pitched to Bonds in a dangerous situation once: When Eaton had two on with one out. Bonds singled.

The homers he has hit against Lieber came with nobody on, as did his single. Two of the five walks Lieber has issued him were intentional; the others, considering Lieber has excellent control, were really, really careful confrontations.

Expect continued carefulness staffwide.

"I'll pitch to him. I know he'll be the home run king soon," said Freddy Garcia, Sunday's starter. That said, "If I've got two outs and a base open, I'll probably walk him."

Bonds is 1-for-5 with no homers against Garcia, who is in his first National League season. Of course, that was a while ago, before when Garcia was setting up his offspeed stuff with a 95 mph fastball instead of one that putters in at about 85.

Sometimes, Cole Hamels clocks in at about 94. He has that evil, diving changeup, too. A lefty whom Bonds has never seen, Hamels has 86 strikeouts, most in the league.

Advantage, Phillies?

Not if Bonds takes tomorrow night off, as expected, then plays in day games Sunday and Monday.

Color Hamels bummed.

"I don't believe in intentional walks," said the 23-year-old. "I think it screws you up when you're pitching well. It takes momentum away from you."

So, with seven wins and all of those strikeouts, Hamels has earned the right to face Bonds, no matter what?

"I believe so," Hamels said. "He has the best eye-hand coordination. I have some of the most deceptive pitches."

He also has incentive. If Bonds retires at the end of this season, then Hamels won't be able to say he faced the greatest hitter of a generation.

"If I give up a home run, so be it. It's just a challenge," Hamels said. "Anybody who wants to be the best has to go up against the best."

This weekend, unless Bonds is in a position to do minimal damage, that challenge will not be met. *