With a flick of his quick wrists, Giants slugger Barry Bonds hit his 707th career homer on Wednesday night against the Nationals at RFK Stadium.

The two-run, first-inning shot on a 1-1 pitch from Washington right-hander John Patterson pulled Bonds within seven of Babe Ruth's hallowed mark of 714 and 48 behind Hank Aaron's all-time record of 755.

Though it seemed at one point that the Babe would have to wait until next season while Bonds recuperated from the three knee surgeries he underwent this year, Wednesday's homer was Bonds' second in as many nights in the nation's capital, and his fourth in his last four games.

"I don't think so," Bonds said when asked -- after the Giants prevailed, 5-1, for their fifth win in a row -- if he could catch Ruth this year. "There isn't enough time."

Bonds took a tour of the Pentagon on Wednesday afternoon and had a visit from the Rev. Jesse Jackson in the clubhouse after the game.

He needs seven homers to tie Ruth in the team's final 11 games. Manager Felipe Alou said Bonds would only be available for pinch-hitting duties in Thursday's late-afternoon series finale. Bonds said his knee was a bit more sore, stiff and swollen than it was when he played into the ninth inning for the first time in his seven starts on Tuesday night.

"I need to go back to the hotel and put my leg up," said Bonds, who was replaced by pinch-runner Todd Linden after Patterson walked him intentionally with Pedro Feliz on third and two out in the seventh.

But he wouldn't discount the possibility of starting the final game of the series, and Nationals manager Frank Robinson wouldn't discount Bonds catching Ruth this season, either.

"It's Barry Bonds," Robinson said. "I don't see why not. The way he's hitting, he certainly has the capability of doing that."

Bonds' personal record for dingers in consecutive games is six, a run he enjoyed twice in 2001 when he set the Major League single-season record of 73. The all-time record is eight games in a row, shared by Pittsburgh's Dale Long, Seattle's Ken Griffey Jr., and Don Mattingly of the New York Yankees.

The current streak began on Friday night in San Francisco against the Dodgers' Brad Penny. After Bonds took Saturday off, he homered again at SBC Park against Dodgers rookie Hong Chin Kou on Sunday. Both were mammoth drives, the first into the center-field bleachers to the right of the batting eye. The second was his 32nd splash shot into McCovey Cove since the ballpark opened in 2000.

The wrecking job continued this week at rickety, 44-year-old RFK, where the fans have jeered, hollered at and harassed the venerable slugger. One homer seems to be following another and when Bonds gets into one of his streaks...

"I'm not seeing the ball any differently," Bonds said. "I've just been lucky, I guess."

Lucky or not, on Tuesday night, he responded to the taunting by launching a towering fourth-inning drive into the rarified air seven rows deep in the upper deck of the old bowl on East Capitol against friend and former teammate Livan Hernandez.

After arriving at the plate, Bonds raised his arms to the sky with pointed fingers, as he does after every home run. He then brought one finger down to his lips as he glanced at a fan, as if to say, "Shhhhhh!"

There were no such emotions as he rounded the bases on Wednesday night.

Bonds deposited the offering from the 27-year-old Patterson into the Giants bullpen, just beyond the wire-mesh fence in right field. As he rounded the bases, the chorus of boos reached its crescendo, but Bonds didn't seem to notice.

Patterson became the 416th pitcher to allow a homer to Bonds -- a record number of pitchers to be hammered by a single batter.

"It was a good pitch," Patterson said. "I started him away. I threw the cutter in on him. It was down and in. We were all talking about it when we went in the dugout. It's Barry Bonds. I don't know how he hit it."

Wednesday night's shot was his 63rd against the Nationals/Expos franchise, putting that club in second place for the team most frequently tagged by Bonds. The Padres have given up 80 taters to Bonds.

The Giants, who are still chasing the Padres, conclude their current 10-game road trip with four games in San Diego next week at two-year-old PETCO Park. Bonds has hit only one homer there, as opposed to 39 at Qualcomm/Jack Murphy Stadium, the Padres' former home. That's the most homers for Bonds in any of the 32 road ballparks in which he's hit paydirt.

Bonds has hit 24 balls out at Coors Field.

The Giants' season ends back at SBC Park with a three-game series against the Diamondbacks. Bonds has hit 132 homers there, including career Nos. 600, 660, 661, 700, and Nos. 71-73 in 2001, the year he broke Mark McGwire's single-season record.

Whether the Babe's mark will stand the test of time is now an open question.

"Right now, I'm just day-to-day, trying to get through the rest of the season," Bonds said. "I'm not even thinking about it."