Milwaukee ? Nobody has more respect for Hank Aaron than Milwaukee Brewers manager Ned Yost.

“Hank gave me my first managerial job in the minor leagues,” said Yost, who worked in the Atlanta Braves system when Aaron was farm director. “I have all the respect in the world for Hank.”

Nevertheless, Yost said he wouldn’t try to keep San Francisco’s Barry Bonds from tying or surpassing Aaron’s home run record this weekend when the Giants and Brewers play a three-game series at Miller Park. Bonds pulled within two of Aaron’s record of 755 home runs Thursday by knocking two out of Wrigley Field in the Giants’ 9-8 loss to the Cubs.

Just as he has done since taking over as manager of the Brewers in 2003, Yost will instruct his staff to pitch to Bonds this weekend, within reason.

“I believe you play the game,” Yost said. “I believe in respecting the game in the fact that you compete. You’ve got to be smart but just to arbitrarily walk the guy makes no sense to me.

“It’s no different from any other great hitter. If you have a base open late in the game in a close situation and he can kill you, that’s different. You play the game.”

Giants manager Bruce Bochy has indicated he wants Bonds to break the record at home, if possible. After the series against the Brewers, San Francisco returns to AT&T Park for a seven-game home stand against Atlanta and Florida.

So, if Bonds hits two homers tonight to catch Aaron, might he sit out the rest of the series?

“They’d probably (sit Bonds down) if that happens,” Yost said. “We’ll see what happens. I can’t worry about that.”

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, who repeatedly has declined to say if he plans to be on hand when Bonds breaks the record, is in town this weekend. But, reached at his downtown office late Thursday afternoon, Selig would not say whether he’ll be at Miller Park for the series.

“I know what I’ll do but I just don’t want to comment now, for a lot of reasons,” said Selig, who maintains a private suite at the ballpark.

Those who know Selig believe he has not committed to being on hand for the record-breaker because of the ongoing grand jury investigation into possible perjury charges against Bonds for his testimony in the BALCO steroids scandal. Later in the day, news came out of San Francisco that the grand jury term was extended for a second time, meaning Bonds is not in the clear yet.

The chances of Bonds catching Aaron this weekend appeared slim when the day began. He was in one of the worst slumps of his career – a 0-for-21 skid – and had not homered since July 3 in Cincinnati. Citing sore legs, Bonds did not start the first three games of the series against the Cubs, limiting his action to one pinch-hit appearance.

But the Cubs awakened a sleeping Giant in the series finale. In his first at-bat, Bonds drove a pitch from lefty Ted Lilly over the right-field bleachers, despite a breeze blowing in from that direction.

Bonds later added a two-run single off Lilly before completing his six-RBI performance with a three-run homer off reliever Will Ohman in the seventh inning.

It was 31 years ago today that Aaron hit his 755th home run while playing his second season for the Brewers and the last of his career. The shot off California’s Dick Drago at County Stadium recently was commemorated with a plaque in the parking lot of Miller Park at the approximate location where it landed.

Bonds, who will turn 43 on Tuesday, began the season 22 home runs shy of passing Aaron but cooled off after a fast start and his pace dropped off dramatically. He declined an offer to participate in the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game in his home park, saying it would take too much out of him at his age.

Then came the 0-for-21 drought, which ended in dramatic fashion at Wrigley.

“It was only a matter of time,” said Brewers catcher Damian Miller. “He’s not going to stay in a slump forever. It just proves he’s still somewhat human.”

Reliever Matt Wise, who probably won’t be available for a couple of days after pitching three innings in the Brewers’ 10-1 victory over Arizona, concurred with Miller’s assessment.

“If he’s playing, he’s still dangerous,” Wise said. “He could go up there without a bat and you’d still have to worry about him.”

As for the possibility of Bonds passing Aaron against the Brewers, Wise said, “If it happens, I hope the ball goes in the bullpen and I get it. We don’t anticipate that happening. We anticipate getting him out.”

The Brewers already were expecting full houses for all three games, but the atmosphere should be even more electric now that Bonds is close to Aaron’s hallowed record. Miller noted the incongruous behavior of fans toward Bonds, booing him when he comes to bat yet jockeying for position in the outfield stands in the event he goes deep.

“The fans boo him, but they’re also first in line for his autograph,” Miller said. “And they all want that baseball. They’re booing him on the way to home plate and as soon as he steps in the box, (camera) flashes go off throughout the stadium. That doesn’t really make sense.”