Bonds' attorney issued a statement, calling malfeasance on everyone involved, except his client, and now wants to go after the Justice Department for doing all sorts of bad things to his boy. Bond's flunky, Greg Anderson, was also released from prison, and speculation is that either that the Government doesn't need him anymore. (Or that he finally sang like a bird.)

And just to be clear, the indictment says they have proof Barry was on the juice.

Reaction, of course, abounded. The Giants issued a statement saying it was a very sad day. Bud Selig issued a statement saying it was a very sad day. George Mitchell of the Mitchell investigation issued a statement saying it was a very sad day. Even the President, who as owner of the Texas Rangers had a veritable drug bazaar going on with his team, weighed in to say it was a...very sad day. And somewhere out there, Henry Aaron jumped up and down shouted "take that, bitch." On local message boards, the reaction was everywhere, from a shrug variety to apologist to disgust at everyone and everything. Elsewhere, noticeable glee can be discerned.

Lions 36 Raiders 21- And so what are we to make of the Raiders game? They absolutely sucked for a half, rallied to make a game of it, and then just as soon as they actually took a lead, fell completely apart. Just like that. Up 21-20 and on a serious roll, the Raiders promptly let the Lions roll eighty yards in seven plays to retake the lead. In response, the Raiders summoned up all they had and fought back by turning the ball over twice in a row. You could look at the good-- 375 yards of offense and great game s by LaMont Jordan and Ronald Curry or you could look at the bad-- missed field goals, turnovers, and an absolute inability to close. Or maybe it was the Lions who were unable to close? We guess we'll find out in the next few weeks whether the Raiders lost because they realized they were the Raiders and choked or whether the Raiders rallied because the Lions realized they were the Lions and choked.

Giants 4 Dodgers 2- True story-- we were waiting for the J over the weekend (it wasn't working as usual) when somebody next to us started telling us how excited he was to be going to his first Dodgers/Giants game and our reaction was to wonder if there's still baseball being played here. Oh yeah: turns out there is. And turns out the Giants took two-out-of-three from their hated rivals-- one led by the kids and the other by grizzled and much embattled veteran Ray Durham. If you were to make up a list of the biggest disappointments for the season, Durham would probably be #1, or at least in a good conversation with Barry Zito. Durham, after all, was resigned for a lot of money on the basis of a great season past and an ability to be Barry B's wingman. This year, he's been flirting badly with the Mendoza Line and the symbol of a team of aging vets aging rapidly before our eyes. But with a pinch three-run homer in the eighth, he at least can say he had one good moment in the sun and can say that he saved Matt Cain from yet another horrendously unfair loss.

Rangers 12 A's 9- It's looking like the A's had an even worse weekend than Britney's PR rep. Well, maybe not that bad. Down in Texas, the A's got swept by the Rangers and now find themselves in the dubious position of being tied for last place. This game was about as ugly as they come, especially as the rain dragged out the torture even longer than normal. The A's gave up eight runs in the second, rallied later in the game, and just like their Oakland football brethern, quickly threw it all away.

Giants 3 Nationals 2- The Giants won a game in extra innings. We repeat, the Giants won a game in extra innings. Will wonders never cease? In fact, according to our unscientific methods, we see that the Giants are actually 1-60 in extra innings games this season. Okay, we exaggerate but it does seem like the Giants get in their fare share of extra inning games and lose every single one of them. But not only did the Giants win in the 11th, they were down by a run and rallied in the 10th as Randy Winn scored on a Bengie Molina single as B-Money once again came through in the clutch. Winn also won the game with a bases load single in the 11th. Lost in all this extra inning madness (and the Bonds circus) was yet another massively awesome start by Tim Lincecum who held the Nats to one run in seven innings. At one point, the Enchanter had runners on second and third with two outs and Ryan Zimmerman up. As Kruk, Kuip, and booth guest Frank Robinson discussed just how dangerous a situation it was, especially for a rookie, Lincecum struck out Zimmerman, causing SFist to break into tears as we realized the Kid was going to pitching for us for at least four or five more years, or at least until the Yankees sign him when the Giants have to give him up because too much of their budget will be tied up with Zito.

Oakland 9 Rangers 7- And speaking of extra innings, the A's won in the lucky 13th after blowing a seven run lead. Yep, that's right-- a 7-0 lead. This game sounds like a hoot too. The A's scored six runs in the 1st inning all with two outs but then the Rangers inched their way back, run by run, until they finally tied it in the ninth as Michael Young hit a home run off of Alan Embree. The Rangers, btw, did all this while also striking out twenty times. The A's finally won it in the 13th as Mike Piazza and then Mark Ellis singled in runs. The hit that started the rally, by the way, was also the first hit the A's got since the fifth inning- a total of seven innings without getting a hit.

Giants 3 Dodgers 1- We have no explanation for yesterday's trade of Matt Morris to the Pirates. Not that it doesn't make sense for the Giants, but what the hell were the Pirates thinking? Considering the Giants also snagged Jason Schmidt oh so long ago for Armando Rios and Ryan Vogelsong, both currently residing in the Where Are they Now Files, one wonders what sort of mojo Sabean has on the Buccos. As for the deal, the big thing is the Giants just said goodbye to about $13.5 million in unpaid bills which will go probably for some big free agent signing during the offseason (hmmm...ARod?). The dude they picked up, Rajai Davis, seems like a nice enough fellow but appears to be nothing more than a younger Dave Roberts. The deal has to be considered a nice one, but still, we can't but feel a wee bit jealous of all the Rangers fans out there who get to look at all the shiny new prospects they just acquired. Ahh….to have all sorts of pretty new prospects, all of which is kind of why we were kind of down for trading Noah Lowry for some really good position players, but then Lowry pitched another stellar game, and well, nevermind.

A's 7 Tigers 3- The Athletics won their first game in five tries as a six run sixth inning gave them the game. Taking the victory was Dan Haren who is now a gaudy 13-3. Unlike the Giants, the A's did not make any moves making us wonder if Beane just considers this year a mulligan. A's fans, meanwhile, are already thinking about tomorrow and dreaming of '08.

Giants 4 Cubs 2- See, the Giants score more than three runs and the Giants win, although we use the word"score" loosely as the winning two runs came on a bases loaded walk and an infield squibbler that just avoided going foul. The big Giants news, however, has been the resigning re-signing of Brian Sabean and attendant gnashing of teeth by Giants fans. While we're not sure we want to defend Sabes or the decision, we do think he might not be the droid Giants fans are looking for. More like the Scooter Libby. In last week’s Sports Illustrated, there’s a quote about what a super stupendous owner the Angels' Artie Moreno is by an unidentified GM who says that Moreno is "...an owner who wants to win. I mean, really wants to win... who, from the minute he wakes up, is all about whether he wins or loses that day." We don't think that's necessarily true of Magowan.

Rangers 11 A's 4- Now that it’s been confirmed that the Harry Potter book has been leaked online, we’re totally terrified of going online. Without even trying, we've been spoiled on a few things and we weren't even looking at Harry Potter stories. It’s become obvious that the best thing to do from here on out is to not even go online until we finish the book just to keep from getting more spoiled. And we’re not talking just pop culture sites or entertainment sites, but sports sites and news sites too. We're completely terrified that, like, we'll be in the middle of reading Frank Rich's latest screed against the administration and right in the middle of it, he'll say something like "excuses to stay in Iraq are deader than Voldermort after Luna Lovegood summoned a patronus of a giant bucktooth ferret to kill him” (note: not a real spoiler) And speaking of things sucking, the A's got clobbered by the Rangers.

Cubs 3 Giants 2- The Enchanter enchanted but whatever fireballs he threw weren't enough to win the game as once again, the Giants offense failed to show up and the bullpen burped up another lead, this time in the eighth. Speaking of no offense, we did a little number crunching (based on hearsay and conjecture and our high school level mathematical skills) and figured out that the Giants have played in forty-two games in which they haven't scored more than three runs. For those scoring at home, that's a about 47% of their games. Not too surprisingly, their record is horrible in those games: 5-37. The team, however, is fourteen games under .500 which means the team isn't too bad when they score runs. In fact, we called up one of our accountant friends who told us that all of this means that the Giants have a record over .500 when they score over three runs. What we're saying here is one has to wonder what this team would be like if it they had another decent bat. Or two. In fact, one has to wonder what would have happened if they took all the money they threw at Barry Zito and instead gave it to Soriano (guessing, of course, that any lackey pitcher from AAA could have the same stats as Zito does). You can also sort of get a glimpse into the drunken game of Jenga Sabaen tried to play on a very rickety table this season in that if a bunch of hitters (Roberts, Vizquel, Aurillia, Durham) hit close to their career averages, this team isn’t that bad. Not great, but not bad. Well, maybe a little bad.

Rangers 4 A's 1- And speaking of not scoring more than three runs, there's the A's who haven't scored more than three runs in eleven games and now find themselves closer to the cellar dwelling Rangers than the division leading Angels. In fact, one has to wonder if this team is pretty much donezo. The Angels are a pretty, pretty good team and unlikely to choke up a 12 game lead. As for the wild card, there's way too many teams in front of the A's and it's pretty much conventional wisdom that the Wild Card team will be whomever loses that big ole dog fight in the AL Central between the Tigers and the Tribe. In other A’s news, the A's traded barely hitting catcher Jason Kendall to the Cubs for a bunch of minor leaguers

Giants 3 Mets 0- They say that one of the most important things about being a baseball player is the ability to keep things in perspective and to, as they say, "take it one day at a time." And that's just what the Giants did. One day after a loss that had many Giants fans reacting as if they had just lost Game 7 of a playoff series, the Giants stepped up, kept their cool, and won they only way they know how-- have their starting pitcher throw shutout baseball and score just enough runs to win. All this courtesy of Barry Zito who pitched the way you'd expect a very high priced #1 ace to pitch-- an eight inning, six hit, 122 pitch, shutout. Benitez, didn’t get into the game because he apparently has a bad knee which he got from warming up yesterday and by "bad knee" we mean will not appear until everyone’s stomach doesn’t feel queasy anymore.

A's 6 Rangers 1- Dan Haren is the man, a man with an ERA of 1.64. Yesterday he pitched eight innings and gave up only four hits and one earned run. The big news, however, wasn't Haren's now standard great start, but the reappearance of an old friend, Milton Bradley who played in his first game and immediately started hitting. Bradley's reappearance, however, meant that the great Jack Cust era is probably over as he's come down to earth from his hot, hot start and is now showing signs of being who he really is-- a journeyman minor leaguer. We hope you enjoyed it.

Mets 5 Giants 4- Man, we don't even want to talk about this game. In a tight, dramatic, overstuffed games that felt like a playoff game, the Giants finally took the lead in the 12th inning only to lose because Armando Benitez balked. Twice. Now, balk calls are extremely rare to begin with, but two in one inning? You can't come up with a bigger way in which a relief pitcher could blow a save-- a walk, two balks, and a home run—it's all on Armando. Sure, one of them was tickity, tickity, tack but Giants fans are pretty much grabbing pitchforks these days and we're pretty much grabbing a few too. His blowup ruined what would have been a nice little win as it featured another good start by Timmy, some clutch hitting by the kids, and a sparkling defensive gem by Omar and Kevin Fransden.

What a bad, bad, bad, bad way to lose a game.

Rangers 4 A's 0- Ron Washington got his first third victory over his ex as the Rangers shut out the A's. The A's only have themselves to blame as they gave up three unearned runs in the sixth. Also they were unable to score against the eminently beatable Mike Wood, he of a 7.02 ERA. The A's left nine on base and had bases loaded in the first but couldn't get anyone to bring anyone in.

Shirley you must know the premise: a heroic masked man gallops about the West, righting seemingly-insurmountable wrongs with the aid of a whip-smart ally Tonto and his horse Silver. In issue one of this mostly-faithful re-imagining, a family of Texas Rangers faces down some sinister horse thieves (or are they something worse?), accompanied by flashbacks to the childhood of John, the youngest son. John grows up a clever kid, learning lessons about the value of life -- even criminals' -- and never forgetting his family's roots.

What might be the very best part of the book, though, is its dialog: there's not much of it. No sentence is more than eight or so words long, which gives you plenty of time to enjoy the scenery and the action and the honest-to-God love of the genre. The first printing of issue one sold out completely, and for the first time in its history, Dynamite had to order a second printing. We can't wait for the next batch of stories.

First, onto baseball:

The Giants are now on a three-game roll after taking two from the Cubbies and beating the Reds in ten innings Monday. Your Black & Orange hero? Shea Hillenbrand who hit the game-winning home run in extra innings. That trade is suddenly looking less like a total disaster these days. Also of note, the heating up of Barry Bonds who hit numero 730 and has now hit five home runs in his past six starts. That gulp you're hearing is of pitchers in the NL, other teams in the Wild Card hunt, and officials at Major League Baseball now pondering the meaning of a so hot right now Barry. The Giants have now won 15 of 21 and are for the first time in a long while, .500. No, we're not going to go there as of yet but we're starting to disbelieve our disbelief.

The A's, meanwhile, got spanked by the Rangers, 8-1, with Barry Zito being the recipient of said spanking. The game featured a real, live, actual inside-the-park-home run which is always cool, even if a member of the opposing team did it. The loss however is nothing but a big yawn as they still took the weekend series against the O's and are 6 1/2 up on the Angels. Of even bigger deal is the sudden appearance of the "Magic Number Box" in the Chron over the weekend. The number is around 18 games or so (we lost track over the haze of a three day weekend) but seeing the Magic Number Box always brings a tingle to the heart.

Now onto college football--

The Cal Bears set back the cause of West Coast Pac 10 football by getting absolutely creamed at Tennessee, 35-18. And Stanford set back the cause of Elite Smarty Pants Institutions by getting even creamedier by the Oregon God-Awful Uniforms, 48-10. Oh well, as we used to sing in High School when our football team lost, "That's Alright, That's Okay, We're Going to Be Your Boss Sometime," although all things considering these two universities, it'll be more like "that's alright, that's okay, we'll downsize your asses to India Someday." Or, in Stanford's case "That's alright, that's okay, we'll stupidly send your kid to Iraq someday."

Oh, and the Jeff George era ended after just a week as he was released. Thanks for coming, George.

You know how everyone says San Francisco is a little bubble utopia isolated from the realities of the rest of the world? Well, you might as well embrace it this Labor Day, because the eastbound Bay Bridge is closed all weekend.

Yes yes, you probably already know, since Caltrans has commissioned every single flashing road sign in the entire state to remind you for the last two weeks. We feel badly for any Amber Alert children kidnapped this weekend. BART will run extra trains, there's extra ferries running -- and a few charter buses will be allowed on the bridge, including the ones hired by the hapless couple that's been planning their Labor Day Treasure Island wedding for the last two years (as well as the ones for the Baltimore Orioles and the Texas Rangers, who are coming in to play the A's).

This is it for awhile in terms of big projects -- but expect delays for the next 2 and a half years, as the crews demolish the westbound approach (goodbye, weird lane that looks like it's exiting at Fremont but then puts you back on 101), and set up the detour lanes going around Yerba Buena Island.

This beating reminded everyone that there is-indeed--a real pennant race fomenting in the AL West. However, the Rangers should take a very hard look at the all-encompassing big picture scoreboard-the Athletics won that series by dominating the small things. And they beat Texas by going toe-to-toe with one of the best offenses in the American League. Moreover, the real battle was won in the trenches-through superior bullpen action, sans Joe Kennedy, Scott Sauerbeck and the rest of the DL boys, a smothering defense and timely hitting from Jay Payton, not through caveman-like hacking at off-speed pitches that Ranger batters have mastered.

The Athletics, with their crudely assembled line-up, made the critical plays when they counted most. For instance, Bobby Crosby goes on the DL, enter utility-man extraordinaire Marco Scutaro, to solidify the shortstop position and play like a wizard. And the guy is a rock! If you notice, not many ground balls get past the Scutaro-Chavez phalanx. Then, there is Jay Payton. Exactly! Who the hell is Jay Payton? He's only the guy whose been riding a 12-game hitting streak, batting over .330 since June 11 and smashing meaningful home runs to either tie a game or put the A's in the lead. He even smashed a 4-bagger off his greatest nemesis, Texas pitcher Kevin Millwood. But we digress.