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SAN FRANCISCO – Teased and taunted for tiptoeing around Barry Bonds, the Anaheim Angels decided to challenge him. 

Whack! 

Bonds lined an RBI double that sent the San Francisco Giants zooming to a big lead that not even these pesky Angels could overcome, winning 16-4 in Game 5 Thursday night to take a 3-2 lead in the World Series. 

Jeff Kent sealed it with a pair of two-run homers, starting the party in full force at Pac Bell Park and putting the Giants on the brink of their first World Series title since 1954. 

Rich Aurilia’s three-run homer in the eighth gave the Giants the most runs by a team in a Series game since the New York Yankees walloped Pittsburgh 16-3 in 1960. It was the 17th homer overall by the Angels and San Francisco, tying a Series record. 

Once again, it took only one big swing by Bonds — Mays’ godson — to swing the momentum in this Series. But, really, the Angels were caught in a lose-lose squeeze from the start. 

They pitched to Bonds in the first inning, and the Giants got three runs. They intentionally walked him in the second, and San Francisco scored three more. 

Halloween was still a week away, but the big guy in orange and black had plenty of tricks and few treats for Anaheim. 

Now, Russ Ortiz will try to clinch San Francisco’s first crown when he starts Game 6 Saturday night at Edison Field against Kevin Appier. 

A sellout crowd of 42,713, tense when the Angels climbed back from a 6-0 deficit and brought the tying run to the plate in the middle innings, erupted when Kent connected in the sixth and again in the seventh. 

Bonds added another double and a single and Kenny Lofton sprinkled in a two-run triple as the Giants pulled away to delirious chants of “Beat L.A! Beat L.A.!” The fans’ geography may have been a bit off, but their math was right on. 

All in all, it was a dramatic turnaround in the Series. Just a few days ago, with Anaheim’s hitters going wild, some thought they would run away with the title. But by the time this one ended, it was the Giants who had the Angels on the run. 

Chad Zerbe got the win, relieving when Jason Schmidt was pulled in the fifth, one out short of qualifying for his second win of the Series.