Bonds’ return set for Monday

NOTES

Barry Bonds will be activated from the disabled list Monday after being medically cleared to play by Dr. Lewis Yocum.

Bonds, who hasn’t played all season while recovering from three operations on his right knee since Jan. 31, would be available to resume his quest for the home run record when San Francisco opens a three-game series against first-place San Diego on Monday night at SBC Park.

The team said it consulted with Yocum, who recommended giving Bonds one more day as a precautionary measure in hopes of keeping him from further injuring the knee.

Bonds took a day off from baseball activity Saturday after five straight days of on-field workouts that tested his knee and overall health.

Piazza beaned in return

Mike Piazza said he would wait until today to see if he could play after being beaned by Julian Tavarez in the catcher’s return to the New York Mets against the St. Louis Cardinals.

In his first game since breaking a bone in his left hand Aug. 16, Piazza homered in his first at-bat, in the second inning against Jeff Suppan. Piazza singled in the fourth and flied out in the sixth.

Tavarez entered the game in the seventh. His first pitch of the eighth hit Piazza on the front of his batting helmet. Piazza fell to the ground, was laid out flat for several seconds, and sat up before walking off the field.

Posada misses game

New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada was out of the starting lineup, a day after a home-plate collision with Boston’s Jason Varitek.

“He had a jammed shoulder last night,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “He tried swinging the bat, got treatment this morning and it just didn’t respond enough for him to be a player today. He was able to do all the motions, but it just wasn’t going to happen today.”

Torre thought Varitek made a clean play on Posada, who was trying to get a good grip on Derek Jeter’s relay throw in the third inning.