Bonds makes Angels pay

The flip of the bat was as much a gesture of relief as contempt. Nobody had played more games - 2,439 - before reaching his first World Series, but Barry Bonds stamped his authority with his first trip to the plate, inspiring the San Francisco Giants to win the opening game 4-3 with a monstrous home run.

One question had dominated before the first all wild-card Series opened in Anaheim on Saturday night: would the Anaheim Angels dare pitch to Bonds? The answer came in the second inning: Jarrod Washburn dared and paid.

Two batters later, Reggie Sanders ended a fearful slump with another solo homer. Troy Glaus replied in kind, but in the sixth inning Anaheim were undone by JT Snow's two-run shot. The Angels cut the deficit in the sixth, when Glaus became the sixth man to hit two homers in a Series game. The angels, though, were with the Giants - and Bonds.