Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - Dusty Baker's return to the Bay Area Tuesday night brought out well-wishers, hecklers, and those who could care less about his new team.

Baker guided the Giants for 10 years and led the club to a pair of NL West titles and to the World Series last year before losing to Anaheim in seven games, but decided to leave San Francisco after a straining relationship with team owner Peter Magowan. Baker then signed a four-year contract worth about $14 million with the Cubs in the off-season and made his way back to the city where he handled slugger Barry Bonds.

Tuesday night's result at Pacific Bell Park was a positive for Baker, as the Cubs won 4-2, but there were some other special moments before and during the game. Baker, who was given a standing ovation after a brief video tribute before the game, received his National League championship ring from San Francisco general manager Brian Sabean. During the contest, Baker elected once to intentionally walk Bonds, who was also hit twice by pitches from Kerry Wood.

"I'll be glad when this series is over, really," Baker said. "Not only here, but at home, too. The phone is ringing off the hook, and I spend 30 minutes on tickets. There were a few hecklers. You can't control how people feel about you. You just accept it."

Cubs outfielder Moises Alou, who homered and drove in two runs in leading his team to a victory over his father's club. Felipe Alou, the manager of the Giants, was resigned to the fact his son would break out of a 1-for-21 slump.

"Sooner or later, he was going to start hitting," the elder Alou said.

JAPANESE MEDIA BLITZ

Nearly 150 members of the Japanese media turned out to see last night's first meeting of Godzilla vs. Ichiro and millions more in Japan were glued to the television at 8 a.m. local time.

However, the matchup between Seattle rightfielder Ichiro Suzuki and New York leftfielder Hideki Matsui never materialized into a slugfest. Suzuki was 1- for-5 with a bunt single and Matsui went 1-for-4.

"There was little difference for me in this game," Matsui said through his interpreter. "I don't think it is any landmark game."

Suzuki was surprised he received a warm welcome at Yankee Stadium.

"Usually when I visit away stadiums, you hear the boos," Suzuki said through an interpreter. "This time I heard some cheering. That was a little strange."

BURNETT'S INJURY DEPLETES FLORIDA'S STAFF

The Florida Marlins are off to a respectable start in a tough division, but suffered a huge loss as righthander A.J. Burnett underwent Tommy John surgery on his elbow earlier this week and is expected to be out 12-to-18 months. That means he may not be back until the 2005 season.

Burnett's loss means Florida's rotation now consists of Brad Penny, Josh Beckett, Mark Redman, Carl Pavano and Michael Tejera. The top two starters in Penny and Beckett are solid, but Florida's success could rely on the bottom half of the rotation.

Entering Wednesday night's game in Arizona, Pavano had a 2-3 mark, but has not pitched less than six innings in any of his starts this year. Redman has also been solid recently, winning his last two outings, including a complete-game 11-strikeout performance against Milwaukee on April 24. Redman then threw seven shutout innings Tuesday night in a win over the Diamondbacks.

Tejera started in 18 of his 47 appearances last season and has started in one of his 11 outings this year. He is all too familiar with Burnett's condition. Tejera missed the 2000 season, after undergoing elbow ligament surgery in April that year. He spent 2001 at the Double-A level, throwing 140 innings for Portland, and worked on rebuilding his arm strength.

"It's very sad to lose A.J.," Tejera told the Miami Herald. "But I will step up for this team and for A.J."

Burnett's loss means the Marlins are left with a rotation that went 36-47 last season.