Los Angeles ? After getting off to a great beginning, Barry Bonds said he’s more concerned about the ending.

He was speaking of his team, not himself.

San Francisco's Barry Bonds, right, is congratulated by teammate Rich Aurilia after hitting a three-run home run in the second inning. Bonds tagged two homers in the Giants' 9-2 rout of the Dodgers on Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Coming off one of the greatest offensive seasons in baseball history but still without a World Series appearance, Bonds homered twice and drove in five runs Tuesday to lead the San Francisco Giants to a season-opening 9-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” said the 37-year-old San Francisco slugger, who hit 73 homers last year to break the record set by Mark McGwire in 1998. “We want to be in the race until it’s over. It’s early, one game doesn’t make a season.”

Bonds hit a two-out, three-run homer off Kevin Brown on his second swing of the season, a drive that capped a five-run second inning.

Bonds had an RBI single off Brown in the fourth, then sent a 1-1 pitch from Omar Daal just inside the right-field foul pole in the seventh, becoming the 10th player to reach the loge level at Dodger Stadium.

The home runs gave Bonds five on opening day and 569 overall, moving him four behind Harmon Killebrew, who ranks sixth on baseball’s career list.

Bonds has 57 multihomer games, including 10 last season, and is fifth in the category. He became the 75th player to homer twice on opening day.

“This guy’s in another league,” teammate J.T. Snow said. “It doesn’t surprise you, you almost come to expect it. I think the rest of us feel like we’re Little Leaguers. We’re fighting and scratching, he’s up there as relaxed as can be. He just does things others can’t do.”

Bonds smiled when asked what he expected from himself this season, saying: “The only expectation I have is to stay healthy.”

Bonds, who popped to second on Brown’s first pitch in the opening inning, took a called strike before hitting an 0-1 pitch into the left-field stands in the second.

“I haven’t done well against this team at all,” said Bonds, who has homered twice in 34 at-bats against Brown. “Kevin’s been tough against us. He’s a great pitcher, he’s a good man, he’s a workhorse. Some of us pitches stayed up.”

Bonds, who came out of the game after hitting his second homer, ended last season by hitting his final three against the Dodgers at Pacific Bell Park including No. 73 off knuckleballer Dennis Springer in the final game.

“The man in left field did his fair share of damage today,” Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said, referring to Bonds. “The more you watch him, the more you reflect back on what he’s done throughout the course of his career. He’s beginning to make a case for himself as arguably being maybe the greatest player to ever play the game.”

Livan Hernandez, making his third straight opening-day start for the Giants, won by allowing both Los Angeles runs and four hits in eight innings.

Hernandez, who retired 14 straight batters before Mark Grudzielanek singled to start the eighth, also had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run.

“We outscored them, but Livan won that game for us,” Bonds said.

Brown, making his first start since surgery on his right elbow Sept. 27, was battered for seven runs and nine hits in four innings. Brown, 3-3 in seven opening-day starts, had been 8-1 with a 1.86 ERA against the Giants.

“I made some bad pitches today, and they took advantage of them,” he said. “That’s what it all boils down to. My job is to give the team a chance to win and I pretty much buried us. I didn’t pull my weight today.”

Expos 7, Marlins 6

Montreal The Montreal Expos made their fans forget about extinction and feel some excitement.

Down to their last out in what might have been their final season opener, the Expos rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and beat Florida on Orlando Cabrera’s single.

A crowd of 34,351 cheered loudly after Jose Vidro tied it with a two-out, two-run single and Cabrera won it.

While Cabrera was mobbed by his teammates, new manager Frank Robinson wildly waved his hat to the fans.

Diamondbacks 9,

Padres 0

Phoenix Curt Schilling picked up where Randy Johnson left off by throwing seven scoreless innings and Damian Miller hit a grand slam as Arizona beat San Diego.

Schilling, 26-6 last season counting his 4-0 postseason mark, struck out nine, allowed six hits and didn’t walk a batter one night. In Monday’s opener, Johnson fanned eight and threw a six-hitter in a 2-0 shutout.

Schilling and Johnson were co-MVPs of the World Series.

Brewers 9, Astros 3

Houston The name Enron was gone from the ballpark. As far as the Houston Astros were concerned, hitting and pitching were missing, too.

Ben Sheets struck out a career-high eight, and Richie Sexson, Tyler Houston and Jose Hernandez drove in two runs each to lead Milwaukee to a season-opening win over Houston.

Following the collapse of Enron, the NL Central champions bought back naming rights to their ballpark from the bankrupt energy company. The downtown stadium was known as Enron Field during its first two seasons, but it is Astros Field now until the team finalizes a new naming rights deal.