Bonds Is Coming to Town

DENVER — Barry Bonds comes to Dodger Stadium tonight for the first time this season as the Dodgers play host to San Francisco in a three-game series.

The Dodgers swept the Giants last weekend at SBC Park despite Bonds’ four homers and eight runs batted in.

The six-time National League most valuable player hit eight homers during a seven-game stretch that ended Wednesday, and now the Dodgers must deal with Bonds again.

“He’s amazing,” third baseman Adrian Beltre said. “You throw the ball over the plate and he won’t miss it. Even myself, I get a pitch right over the middle, and I’ll foul it back or get a groundball.

“Any time a pitcher throws the ball over the plate to him, it automatically goes out of the park. It’s just amazing to see how consistent he can do that, and how comfortable he can be to just swing at strikes.”

Said first baseman Shawn Green: “It’s really like a high school player playing with Little Leaguers.”

Bonds leads the majors with a .500 batting average, nine home runs, 20 walks, an on-base percentage of .672 and a slugging percentage of 1.342.

Although the Dodgers were burned repeatedly while pitching aggressively to him, Bonds did not put the Giants ahead with a late homer.

However, given Bonds’ torrid start, should the Dodgers have been less aggressive?

“You can be [too aggressive] with him, because he can make you pay, and I think we were a couple of times,” Paul Lo Duca said. “He’s so hot right now ... I don’t think we’re going to let him get into that situation.”

Pitching coach Jim Colborn agreed.

“We’ve got to show him a lot of respect,” Colborn said. “If the game is on the line, and we can afford not to have to pitch to him, we probably would not.”

But Manager Jim Tracy said Bonds must be challenged sometimes.

“I don’t know that we’re to the point that we can just walk him in the second inning to start an inning off that way,” Tracy said. “We have to feel somewhat confident in the fact that we’re not going to get beat, 1-0, every day. With what we’ve seen offensively to this point, we can feel that way. But with multiple runners on base, you have to be extremely careful with this guy, because three-run home runs at the wrong time of the game are very damaging.”

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Center fielder Milton Bradley started Thursday after injuring his left shin and ankle in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s win over Colorado.

“I didn’t really think about it,” said Bradley, hitless in three at-bats. “I was just out there trying to get my hits, and run down some stuff as much as I could.”

ON DECK

Opponent -- San Francisco Giants, three games.

Tonight -- 7.

Site -- Dodger Stadium.

TV -- Channel 13 every game.

Radio -- KFWB (980), KWKW (1330).

Records -- Dodgers 10-5, Giants 6-10.

Record vs. Giants -- 3-0.

Tonight, 7 -- Odalis Perez (1-1, 3.20) vs. Brett Tomko (0-1, 7.98)

Saturday, 7 p.m. -- Jeff Weaver (1-1, 6.89) vs. Jerome Williams (2-1, 4.34).

Sunday, 1 p.m. -- Kazuhisa Ishii (2-1, 6.48) vs. Dustin Hermanson (1-1, 4.70).

Tickets -- (323) 224-1448.