Bonds immediately raised both arms in the air as he began a slow trot around the bases. The record crowd of 43,734, which had booed when Astros pitchers walked him, rewarded him with a standing ovation.

His San Francisco teammates poured out to greet a smiling Bonds at home plate along with Bonds’ son, Nikolai. Bonds pointed at his family behind the third-base dugout as he returned to the bench.

With fans still cheering at Enron Field, he came out for two curtain calls. Bonds took his position in left field to start the bottom of the ninth, was mobbed by teammates who were in the Giants bullpen, then was replaced and left waving his cap.

Bonds’ 70th homer marked the second big achievement of the day in the majors. Earlier, Rickey Henderson of San Diego scored his 2,246th career run and broke Ty Cobb’s record.

The Giants won 10-2, completing a three-game sweep that kept them two games behind Arizona in the NL West race with three games remaining, all against Los Angeles.

Bonds hit his 564th career home run, moving him past Reggie Jackson — a distant relative — for seventh place on the all-time list.

Among those cheering for Bonds was his godfather, Hall of Famer Willie Mays, who ranks third on the career list with 660 homers.

Bonds’ father, former major leaguer Bobby, was at the Giants’ first two games in Houston. The team, however, believed he had to leave town before seeing his son make history.

Bonds connected on a 1-1 pitch from Rodriguez, a 22-year-old lefty making only his second major league appearance. Bonds took a huge cut and missed the first pitch, watched a ball up and in, then launched a 93-mph fastball into the stands.

The ball was caught by Charles Murphy of Houston.

Bonds, a 10-time All-Star who could be headed to his record fourth MVP award, had never hit more than 49 home runs in a season before this year.

But choking up on his 34-inch, maplewood bat, he quickly put himself in position to challenge McGwire’s record, set in 1998.
McGwire’s mark captured the nation’s attention, especially because he dueled Sammy Sosa for the standard of 61 set by Roger Maris in 1961.

When McGwire finished with 70 home runs, it looked like it might become baseball’s new magic number.

“I think it will stand for a while. I know how grueling it is to do what I’ve done this year,” he said. “Will it be broken someday? It could be. Will I be alive? Possibly.

“But if I’m not playing,” he said, “I’ll definitely be there.”

Bonds, never the most likable player with fans or opponents, did not stir quite the same interest as Big Mac. Not only was Bonds’ chase not the biggest story in the country — not after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 — but it even fell behind Michael Jordan’s return on the sports pages.

The media contingent watching Bonds the last few days was only half the size of Big Mac’s following.