Everyone came to see a Barry Bonds home run leave the yard Tuesday night. Instead, they saw pitcher A.J. Burnett leave with a shoulder injury.

Burnett left in the fifth inning with a strained right shoulder as the Toronto Blue Jays lost 3-2 to the San Francisco Giants before a crowd of 37,574 at AT&T Park.

A.J. Burnett, left, departs with trainer George Poulis in Tuesday's loss.
(Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)

"They don't think it's any big deal," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "It's a mild strain."

Burnett (5-6) began labouring in the fifth inning and, though he had retired two batters, walked off the field with Blue Jays trainer George Poulis and did not return.

"You're always concerned when a pitcher feels something and has to come out," Gibbons said. "They did all the tests and everything came out good.

"But that's not the final say. He'll get checked tomorrow [Wednesday]."

Burnett was charged with three runs — one unearned — on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings pitched.

Jason Frasor, Scott Downs and Casey Janssen combined to pitch 3 1/2 innings of two-hit relief, striking out four batters, but Toronto fell to 1-7 overall versus the Giants, including 0-5 at AT&T Park.

Alex Rios homered for the Blue Jays (30-34).

Aaron Hill nearly tied it 3-3 in the ninth inning, but a leaping Randy Winn reached above the left-field wall to rob him of a game-tying home run.

"I have to keep trying to hit the ball hard," Hill said.

San Francisco starter Noah Lowry lasted six innings, surrendering two runs and four hits with four walks and five strikeouts.

Lowry (6-5) was credited with the win with Jack Taschner, Kevin Correia and Brad Hennessey each providing one spotless inning of relief.

Hennessey earned his third save in four opportunities.

"You need stoppers and that's what they did," Lowry said. "And they did it with authority."

Ryan Klesko had two runs batted in and Ray Durham drove in the decisive run for the Giants (30-34), who have won two straight games following a three-game losing streak.

"It's nice," Klesko said. "We were talking about how we have got to find ways to win those ball games instead of finding ways to lose."

Two hits for Bonds

Bonds doubled, singled and walked twice, leaving him eight home runs shy of Henry Aaron's major-league record of 755 set from 1954 to 1976.

Aaron has owned baseball's most cherished record since Aug. 8, 1974, when he surpassed Babe Ruth's long-standing mark of 714.

But Aaron has refused to advise Bonds, who is suspected of using performance-enhancing substances, and repeatedly stated that he will not be on hand if and when the record is broken.

"I don't have any thoughts about Barry," Aaron said recently.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, a close friend of Aaron, has yet to confirm whether he will attend any of the games, either. 

Bonds, who owns the single-season mark of 73 home runs, remains the target of a U.S. federal grand jury investigating whether he committed perjury in 2003, when he reportedly testified that he never knowingly used steroids. 

"He is still one of the best in the game," Gibbons said. "He is dangerous … he has still got that short, quick stroke."

Giants play small ball

San Francisco took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on successive singles by Dave Roberts and rookie Nate Schierholtz, his first major-league hit, and a run-scoring groundout from Klesko. 

Toronto struck back with two runs in the top of the third inning when Royce Clayton singled and Rios lined a home run to left field off Lowry, his 15th of the season.

But the Giants replied in the bottom of the inning as Roberts singled, race to third base on Schierholtz's groundout and came home on Klesko's RBI single.

After Bonds doubled, Durham delivered Klesko with a RBI groundout to make it 3-2.

With files from the Canadian Press