New York ? The game was just a few minutes old and the fans were already booing Mets manager Art Howe.

An intentional walk to Barry Bonds was the reason for all the noise from the crowd at Shea Stadium — with former President Bill Clinton in attendance.

“Man, the fans got on me, didn’t they?” the New York manager said. “I told the president before the game that I was going to walk Bonds all four times. I probably should have.”

Bonds ended up homering twice, giving him 650 in his career, but the Mets overcame his power display to beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-4, Tuesday night.

“I haven’t seen that winning spirit on this team, except for one guy,” Giants manager Felipe Alou said. “Maybe it was just jet lag. Barry’s an amazing guy at that age. Jet lag doesn’t know him.”

Bonds leads the majors with 37 home runs. He hit a pair of solo shots, and his drive in the ninth inning moved him within 10 of Willie Mays for third place on the all-time list.

“Amazed? How can you not be?” Howe said. “This guy looks at times like he’s toying with people, hitting in his backyard off his son with a Wiffle ball bat.”

Bonds had a sore throat and did not speak to reporters after the game.

The Mets used a three-run second inning against Sidney Ponson to jump-start their third victory in five meetings with the NL West leaders this season.

Rookie Aaron Heilman (2-5) allowed seven hits and three runs in five innings to snap a three-game personal losing streak.

“I felt better tonight,” Heilman said. And I was able to put my pitches pretty much where I wanted to.”

Cubs 3, Astros 0

Chicago — Carlos Zambrano held Houston to five hits to win his fifth straight start, getting his first major-league shutout as Chicago beat the Astros. Houston’s lead in the NL Central was reduced to one game over St. Louis, which beat the Pirates 10-6, and 21/2 over the Cubs.

Alex Gonzalez, benched for two days and in a 2-for-46 slump that had driven his average down to .224, hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Tim Redding (8-10).

D’backs 2, Reds 0

Cincinnati — Curt Schilling struck out 11 and Steve Finley homered as Arizona beat Cincinnati for the 15th straight time. The Diamondbacks opened a seven-game road trip with their third consecutive victory and sixth in seven games. Their 15-game winning streak against the Reds is the longest current string by any major-league team against another.

Cardinals 10, Pirates 6

Pittsburgh — Albert Pujols and Tino Martinez hit three-run homers before Pittsburgh retired a batter, and St. Louis rode the six-run first inning to a victory over the Pirates. Martinez drove in four runs for the Cardinals, whose two homers gave them nine in three games — all victories. St. Louis has won four straight overall and seven of its last nine road games. Pujols had three hits to boost his major league-leading average to .370 and extend the Cardinals’ longest hitting streak in 32 years to 26 games.

Brewers 6, Phillies 3

Philadelphia — Keith Osik hit a bases-clearing double and Keith Ginter added a two-run double, leading Milwaukee past Philadelphia.

Padres 14, Braves 4

Atlanta — The San Diego Padres pounded Greg Maddux for 13 hits in five innings and went on to tie a franchise record with 24 hits. The NL East-leading Braves matched a season high with their third straight loss. San Diego equaled the team record for hits set April 19, 1982, vs. San Francisco.

Rockies 6, Expos 3 (11)

Montreal — Pinch-hitter Greg Norton came through with a three-run homer in the 11th inning and Colorado beat Montreal. Colorado ended a three-game skid and improved to 20-42 on the road this season. The Rockies are 2-7 in extra-inning games. Vladimir Guerrero homered for the second night in a row and drove in three runs for the Expos. Larry Walker hit a leadoff single in the 11th off Expos closer Rocky Biddle (3-5), who was working his second inning.

Marlins 5, Dodgers 4 (13)

Miami — Ramon Castro hit a two-out home run in the 13th inning, and Florida took the lead in the NL wild-card race by beating Los Angeles. The Marlins came from behind three times to win and moved one-half game ahead of Philadelphia.