The Giants fans await Barry Bonds next home run with desperation, but the games the team has pulled out lately are very big in the standings, bigger than home run number 600.

The Giants have struggled and needed come from behind wins to beat the Pirates and Cubs this week. The Dodgers continue to look like a wounded animal just waiting for a stronger team to take them out.

So, while everyone waits for the historic homer, knowledgeable baseball fans are lauding the gritty victories posted by the SF nine, which stopped the team from falling out of the NL West race. The wild Card is there for the taking, but Arizona could have opened up an insurmountable lead if the Giants didn’t play some clutch ball this week.

On the other side of the Bay, the A’s took two of three in Boston and now head to NY.

Other contenders have tough tests this weekend too.

Let’s look.The slogan in Boston is Martinez and Lowe and pray for snow. Derek Lowe pitched an excellent game last night against Oakland. Clearly, outpitching Barry Zito. Not even close. Lowe was dominating, inducing ground ball after ground ball.

Casey Fossum pitches against Kyle Lohse who hasn’t pitched a bad game in a month in Fenway tonight. Lowe’s game gives the Sox some momentum tonight. Lowe did tire around the seventh inning and his endurance bears watching in the stretch that starts for the Sox on August 20th.

Fossum is a reliever turned starter too and will need bull pen help. Minnesota, in a spin right now, has been vulnerable to good lefthanded pitching. Lohse has been a sleeper for the Twins and will keep this game close. It’s not out of the question for a Twins win tongiht.

Anaheim lost to Jim Parque and friends in Comiskey last night. Not a good sign for Anaheim. Now the Angels move on up to Toronto to see righthander Pete Walker. Ramon Ortiz is still giving up homers at a record pace, Toronto hits homers at home. This one has the look of 8-7 or something like that, bull pens will dictate the outcome of this game.

The A’s play in New York against their nemesis El Duque. The road trip is already a success after taking two in Boston. Tim Hudson needs some good defense behind him to be successful. The A’s defense has been poor lately even though the transgressions don’t show up in the box score. It’s time for Eric Chavez and Dave Justice to get it done. The Yankees offense has worn the A’s down by the 6th inning or so. The A’s are battle tested, but not hitting again with runners in scoring position. Someone in this order needs to get hot other than Miguel Tejada.

Hudson can’t do it alone, that is painfully obvious this season, The A’s need to roll out their “A” game to avoid a long weekend. It’s not the Yankee pitching that worries the A’s, it’s the NY offense which is scary one through nine, especially the first four in the order, just check the runs scored leaders in the AL.

The A’s need to be clutch in all aspects of their game.

Mark Buehrle and Freddy Garcia pitched against each other on opening day. Buehrle threw two hit ball while Garcia labored through his outing. The Sox better get it done tonight because Seattle is starting to heat up again. The last time Mike Cameron saw Comiskey he hit four homers in a game and the rest of the Mariners treated the Sox staff like batting practice pitchers.

This could be a weekend where Seattle opens up some ground on their pursuers.

Bonds versus Kip Wells. There is something about the Pirates that brings out the best in Bonds. He could get it done tonight. More importantly, this is the toughest Pittsburgh pitcher and the Giants are throwing their ace in Jason Schmidt, so a victory for SF is more critical than the home run.

It’s a very warm day in the Bay Area so the ball should carry well tonight.

We’ll see how tough Houston is as they take on Atlanta at home. Wade Miller has pitched well and a good outing tonight will make everyone in Houston more optimistic about catching the Cards.

Andy Benes has been a major surprise his last three games. Can it last? Maybe because the Mets just can’t get going on offense. Al Leiter is a big game pitcher and at some point the Mets season will be on the line if they don’t win ten of twelve and get closer instead of farther away in the Wild Card race. Anyway, this one will be a bull pen game and could end 4-3.

The Phillies face Omar Daal in LA. Philadelphia can only hope to ruin someone else’s season right now because they are going no where in the East. They show up at the right time for the Dodgers.

Arizona faces a tough customer in Brad Penny. Miguel Batista is slowly showing the form he had as a starter last season. This game is another nail biter for Arizona.

Watch for blowouts and bull pens that will be overworked. Most teams will play Monday thru Wednesday, so the rotations must be watched carefully over the next week.

Things are tightening up and we haven’t even gotten into the meat of the August schedule.

Stay tuned.