SAN FRANCISCO - Sometime after Barry Bonds hit his 660th homer against the Brewers Monday, Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said, "Maybe I'm just not smart enough to walk Barry Bonds every time."

That was the case again in the Giants' 4-2 victory Tuesday night, when Bonds hit his 661st home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to pass Willie Mays for third on the career list.

The homer looked much like the one he hit Monday. This time, Bonds hit a 1-2 hanging slider from reliever Ben Ford 468 feet to right field, over the fence and into the water known as McCovey Cove. In the five-year history of SBC Park, 29 of the 38 home runs that have landed there have come off Bonds' bat.

Bonds said that tying Mays on Monday felt more important than passing him Tuesday. Mays, his godfather, was on hand for both.

"It's Willie. It's just Willie," Bonds said after the game. "It's all about keeping it in the family. I still feel like he's the greatest player of all time."

The sellout crowd of 42,040 gave Bonds a standing ovation, and minutes later he came out for a curtain call.

The baseball was retrieved by software salesman Larry Ellison, the same Schwarzenegger-mask-wearing kayaker who grabbed Bonds' 660th on Monday and later gave it back to Bonds. Bonds gave Ellison two bats, two balls and two T-shirts, all signed by Bonds and Mays, and four sets of tickets to future games.

Bonds said Ellison was keeping No. 661, and he said he had no problem with that.

Bonds, who now trails Babe Ruth by 53 homers and the career leader, Hank Aaron, by 94, said it was easier to focus after the pressure of tying Mays was lifted. Mays traveled with the Giants during their six-game road trip to open the season - his first road trip in 30 years - so that he could be there when Bonds tied him.

Bonds said Monday's homer was a relief.

"Now I can just go out there and swing the bat," he said. "There is a little more pressure when you know he's waiting there for you in the dugout."

Yost had said he wanted his young pitchers to develop, and walking Bonds simply because you should is no way to do that.

"You want to try to play the game right," said Yost, whose team fell to 4-5. "I enjoy the game part of it. I thoroughly believe our players need to cope with these situations, to execute in those situations, if they're going to get to the next level."

In three at-bats against Milwaukee starter Chris Capuano earlier Tuesday, Bonds walked, fouled out to third base and lined a single down the right-field line.

Bonds said he was not surprised that Yost and Milwaukee pitchers challenged him instead of giving him a free pass.

"It's early in the season," Bonds said. "Nothing at this time matters to any club."

Based on his current pace, he seems like a good bet to catch both Ruth and Aaron. Bonds, 39, has hit 213 homers in the last four seasons. He has talked to the Giants about exercising his contract option in 2006, but he hasn't said for sure that he plans to stick around long enough to catch Aaron.

"I don't know," Bonds said Monday. "I have a little bit of a timetable, and when I reach that timetable, it's all over."