Tim Wakefield became a unique member of a crowded fraternity in the Red Sox' 9-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants yesterday at Fenway Park.

Barry Bonds' solo home run off Wakefield in the sixth inning was the 748th of his career, leaving him seven shy of Hank Aaron's all-time major league record. Bonds has stroked home runs against 441 major league pitchers but only five against knuckleballers.

Wakefield joins Tom Candiotti (twice), Steve Sparks and Dennis Springer in the select group of knuckleball pitchers taken yard by Bonds. Springer was the pitcher who served up the Bonds' record 73rd home run in 2001.

Wakefield willingly challenged Bonds with his signature pitch, and Bonds made Fenway Park the 36th stadium he has homered in.

"I thought he hit it good but when it left the bat, I thought it was a popup and I turned and saw J.D. (Drew) keep going further and further and further,'' said Wakefield. "He put a good swing on it, and I'm sure he put a lot of swings on a lot of pitchers. He's hit a lot of homers so you've got to tip your hat to him in that situation.''

Wakefield's contribution to Bonds' pending displacement of Aaron was the historical component of his third straight good outing. Wakefield had quality starts in a 3-2 loss at Oakland on June 6 and a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies at Fenway on June 12.

While he fell one out and two runs shy of a standard quality start, Wakefield gave the crowd of 36,137 a worthwhile performance. The fans boisterously recognized his work as he came out with two outs in the sixth. Wakefield (7-7) went 5 2/3 innings and gave up five earned runs on eight hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

"I felt I did (pitch) well, but I still have to make better pitches in certain situations,'' he said. "I'm just disappointed that I couldn't hold the lead longer than 5 2/3. I thought I made some good pitches to certain hitters, but like (Sox manager) Terry (Francona) said, the ballpark was pretty small today. I'm fortunate enough that I pitched on the right day and our offense scored enough.''

The Red Sox offense came out of hibernation and gave Wakefield a 2-0 lead in the first. But after retiring six of the first seven batters he faced, Wakefield gave up two runs in the third. The Sox rallied for five in the third, giving Wakefield all the runs he would need.