Former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds is scheduled to be sentenced Friday for giving false testimony in a federal steroid investigation.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, who presided over Bonds’ perjury trial earlier this year, has sentenced other athletes convicted of lying during the steroid investigation to probation and home confinement. Distributors of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs have received prison sentences of three to four months.

The judge will decide whether Bonds should be confined to his home, imprisoned for 15 months or placed on probation when he is sentenced Friday for giving evasive testimony to a federal grand jury investigating sports doping.

Bonds, baseball’s home run record holder, was tried for lying to a federal grand jury in 2003 that was investigating a Bay Area laboratory that was selling banned substances to athletes. A jury last April deadlocked on all the charges except one — a federal obstruction-of-justice count.

Authorities first became interested in Bonds in the early 2000s after learning that the Giants superstar had appeared in an advertisement for the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, which was authorities said was selling designer steroids and other drugs to professional athletes.

Bonds was one of 30 athletes summoned before the grand jury that was investigating the lab. Although given immunity in connection with testimony concerning illegal drug use, Bonds insisted that his trainer told him the two steroids he was taking were flaxseed oil and arthritis cream.

Prosecutors presented evidence that Bonds tested positive for a steroid and a fertility drug in a urine sample taken several months before his grand jury evidence. They also gave the jury a surreptitious recording of Greg Anderson, his former trainer, discussing how he injected steroids, in response to a question about Bonds.

Anderson refused to testify in the trial and was jailed for its duration. He has spent nearly two years behind bars, mostly because he would not cooperate with the investigation of Bonds.

Jurors heard three key prosecution witnesses: Steve Hoskins, a childhood friend who was close to Bonds for 10 years until the two had a falling-out in early 2003; Kimberly Bell, Bonds’ girlfriend of nine years; and Kathy Hoskins, Steve’s younger sister, who said she was packing Bonds’ clothes for a road trip when she saw Anderson inject the ballplayer.

Prosecutors also presented four former major-league baseball players who testified that Anderson supplied them with drugs that they said they knew were designed to boost performance and escape detection.

ALSO:

Tanker fire: Portions of 60 Freeway reopen

Atheists “hijack” Nativity display in Santa Monica, critics say

Paris Jackson living ‘normal’ life since father’s death, doctor’s trial

– Maura Dolan in San Francisco

Photo: Barry Bonds leaves federal court in San Francisco in April. Credit: Noah Berger / Associated Press

The San Francisco Giants will play 33 preseason games in Arizona starting March 3.

The G-men released their 2012 Cactus League schedule on Friday.

The preseason schedule includes an additional three games in the Bay Area – two at AT&T Park and one in Oakland, the team said.

Of the 33 Cactus League games in Arizona, 16 will be played at Scottsdale Stadium.

The Giants have trained in Scottsdale since 1982. They drew 160,574 fans last spring, an average of 10,036 per game. Their overall attendance ranked second in the Cactus League behind Arizona, the team said.

The Giants’ tentative 2012 regular season schedule was released last month. Their season opener is in Arizona on Friday, April 6, and their home opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates is on Friday, April 13.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Aug. 10, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO — The Pirates showed up in San Francisco mired in a 10-game losing streak with little going right. In two weeks, they’d fallen from first place to 10 games out.

Winning two from the reigning World Series champion San Francisco Giants did a lot as Pittsburgh heads off to face NL Central-leading Milwaukee in an important matchup of division rivals.

Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run homer, Jeff Karstens bounced back from his worst start of the season and the Pirates won their first series in three weeks with a 9-2 victory over the struggling Giants on Wednesday.

Pittsburgh is off Thursday before opening a weekend series with the Brewers, who have won all five previous meetings.

“We’ll find out after the Friday night game, but we’re going in with some confidence,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “We were able to put a foot down and win a series on the road.”

Garrett Jones added an RBI single to continue his torrid August and help back Karstens (9-6), whose career-high nine strikeouts matched a season high for the team. Karstens, who ended a four-start winless stretch, gave up a season-high nine runs and nine hits in a 15-5 loss at San Diego last Friday.

“It’s good for us, especially heading into Milwaukee,” Karstens said.

Pablo Sandoval homered for the Giants, who began the day with a half-game lead over Arizona in the NL West. The Diamondbacks host Houston in a night game. San Francisco has led the division since June 25.

Jonathan Sanchez (4-7) walked McCutchen on four pitches and threw five straight balls to start the game. Sandoval came in from third and catcher Eli Whiteside hustled to the mound to chat with the left-hander, who was roughed up again in his second start since coming off the disabled list with biceps tendinitis. Sanchez was done after 4 1-3 innings and hasn’t won since June 2 at St. Louis.

McCutchen went 1 for 1 with three walks and a hit by pitch. He stole two bases and scored four runs — most by a Pirate in a game this year. His 16th clout of the year put Pittsburgh ahead 3-1 in the third. The Pirates have homered in four of their last five games and eight of 12.

McCutchen was hit by a pitch leading off the seventh. Brandon Wood drove in a run that inning and Matt Diaz hit two run-scoring singles. Pittsburgh’s Nos. 1-5 hitters went a combined 7 for 17 with six RBI, eight runs scored, seven walks and a hit batter. Jones is batting .389 (14 for 36) with five doubles, three homers and seven RBI this month.

With a power show on offense of late, Bucs pitchers also have allowed 18 homers over the last nine games. Sandoval connected in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 1.

The Giants have hit 19 straight solo home runs, matching the 1914 Phillies’ major league mark. Their last homer to score more than one run was a two-run drive by Nate Schierholtz on July 6 against San Diego.

San Francisco finished up a disappointing 3-7 homestand with its 10th loss in 13 games. The Giants have dropped three straight series at AT&T Park for the first time since losing six consecutive home series from May 12-June 18, 2008.

“We’ve got a lot of baseball left,” outfielder Cody Ross said. “We’ve got to go out and play like champions. We’re not doing it. We’re kind of all in a rut and it seems like we can’t dig ourselves out. We’ve got to do something.”

Giants manager Bruce Bochy said the front office would discuss whether to stick with Sanchez. Lefty Barry Zito had been unimpressive in the fifth starter role and went back on the disabled list Aug. 1, but he could come off when San Francisco needs that pitcher again Aug. 16 in Atlanta.

“It has me a little concerned,” Bochy said of the No. 5 spot. “We need that guy to help us win a ballgame, too. We haven’t had a good start there in I don’t know how many now.”

Pirates first baseman Derrek Lee was a late scratch from the lineup with a recurring left hand injury. Hurdle said Lee’s hand was very sore after he played the two previous nights following a four-game absence with the bruised hand. Lee was hit with a pitch from Chicago’s Carlos Marmol last Wednesday.

Lee is batting .278 with two home runs and three RBI in four games since joining the Pirates in a trade from Baltimore.

Notes

• Giants RF Carlos Beltran missed his third straight game nursing a strained right hand and wrist. Schierholtz was held out with a right hip flexor.
• Zito will make another rehab outing Saturday for Triple-A Fresno then fly out to join the Giants on the road.
• San Francisco INF Miguel Tejada [lower abdominal strain] isn’t quite ready to begin a rehab outing in the minors, Bochy said. Tejada will travel on the road trip.
• Pirates RHP Kevin Hart had arthroscopic cleanup surgery Tuesday performed by Dr. James Andrews in Pensacola, Fla. The team hopes to have Hart ready by spring training.
• Pirates LHP Paul Maholm (6-12, 3.54 ERA) starts Friday trying to end a string of three straight losing decisions. He is 1-5 on the road and is coming off a 13-2 loss Saturday at San Diego.
• All-Star RHP Matt Cain goes for the Giants on Friday at Florida, trying to improve to 4-1 for his career vs. the Marlins. He lost to Florida on May 24.