Washington, DC (My Sportsbook) - Barry Bonds hit a home run in his fourth straight game -- his 707th lifetime -- as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Washington Nationals 5-1 in the middle game of a three-game series at RFK Stadium.

Brad Hennessey (5-8) pitched 7 2/3 strong innings and also went 2-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored for the Giants, who have now won five straight and stayed within five games of the NL West-leading San Diego Padres, who beat the Colorado Rockies.

Vinny Castilla went 1-for-3 and scored the lone run for Washington, which has lost four in a row and is fading from the playoff picture.

Hennessey entered the night with an 0-5 record in his last nine starts, but was very effective in all phases of the game Wednesday. The 6-2 right- hander allowed just three hits and one run in nearly eight innings of work, striking out four and walking two.

Scott Eyre did not yield a run in his 2/3 innings, and Armando Benitez came in with one out in the ninth to record his 18th save.

John Patterson (9-6), who threw a complete-game gem against the Padres last Friday, took the loss for the Nationals. The righthander gave up five runs on 10 hits in seven innings, recording nine strikeouts and two walks.

In the first inning, Patterson had an unsuccessful run-in with No. 25.

With Omar Vizquel on base and two out in the top of the first, Bonds turned on a 1-1 offering from Patterson and sent it over the right-field wall to pull within seven homers of Babe Ruth (714) on the all-time list. Hank Aaron is the leader with 755.

Cristian Guzman scored Castilla with a two-out RBI single to make it 2-1 in the second, but the Nationals would get no closer.

Lance Niekro drove in Moises Alou on an RBI single in the fourth and Hennessey came home on a Randy Winn single to center in the fifth to put the Giants up 4-1.

Hennessey then upped the Giants' advantage with one swing in the seventh, roping a leadoff homer off of Patterson over the left-field fence for his second long ball of the year. Bonds was intentionally walked following a Pedro Feliz triple later in the inning, and was then lifted in favor of pinch-runner Todd Linden to end the future Hall-of-Famer's day.

Game Notes

San Francisco is now 35-38 on the road this season...Patterson was 6-1 with a 2.27 ERA at home entering Wednesday's game...This was Hennessey's first win since July 28...The Giants are now 8-3 versus the Nationals this season.