PHOENIX -- Barry Bonds had a telephone call from his mother, Pat, on Wednesday and she wasn't seeking the condition of his shin splints. She read him the riot act.

The Giants slugger said she told him in no uncertain terms to get himself together, to stop brooding and start playing like the superstar son she gave birth to nearly 43 years ago as he closes in on the all-time home run record.

"With my dad [Bobby] gone, she's about the only one who can kick me in the butt," Bonds said during a wide-ranging interview. "And she did. And she's right."

Sitting on the steps leading up to the visitor's clubhouse at Chase Field, Bonds looked sheepish as he said it. Opposing pitchers may cringe. Media types may tremble. But Bonds reverted to the young child who could always be whipped into shape by his mother.

"'The Giants are losing because of the way you're playing and you know it. So snap out of it,'" Bonds said his mother told him. "'Nobody told you to be great, but you are. That's your responsibility. So play like you are [great].'"

Bonds was back in the starting lineup on Thursday night and beforehand had that grim visage on his face, which says he means business. Save for a pinch-hit appearance in the ninth inning on Wednesday, Bonds missed the first two games of the series against the Diamondbacks as anti-inflammatory drugs and ice reduced the swelling in both shins.

He was ready to start on Wednesday, but the club's training staff held him back another day, "to let the [drugs] set in," Bonds said.

Bonds, whose 43rd birthday is July 24, has played in 53 of the Giants' first 59 games. Going into the game, he had homered only once since May 8 and was stalled at 746, nine behind Hank Aaron's all-time Major League-leading 755.

Since slugging homer No. 11 off the Mets' Tom Glavine in early May, Bonds has only 11 hits and three RBIs in 60 at bats. The Giants, meantime, are 10-16 since then. His last homer on the road was at the Chase on April 28. If May was bad (.188, four homers, eight RBIs), June has started at the same clip (.273, no homers, one RBI).

Bonds has looked lethargic at times and even downright bored. His mother, watching on TV, certainly noticed.

"My mother didn't pull any punches," Bond said. "She told me, 'if you want to break that record, get going and break it. What are you waiting for?'"

Bobby Bonds used to be the hornet in his son's ear when he noticed a loss of energy or focus. Those confrontations usually worked as a stimulus, but the ex-Giant died from complications of cancer on Aug. 23, 2003, and his son has been trying to seek an equilibrium ever since. Harvey Shields, one of his personal trainers, tried to fill that gap by riling Bonds up at time while he traveled with the team. But Shields is no longer allowed in the clubhouse or on the field and doesn't travel with Bonds on the road.

"I'm on my own now," Bonds said. "But I'm a grown up. I can handle it. Now it's my mom who makes a difference. She can see it. So she gave it to me. 'You're not focused. You're not concentrating.' It's all true and I agree with. Over 162 games sometimes you check out of it. And sometimes it takes a kick in the butt to get you back into it. I listen to my mom, but really I have to do it for myself. And sometimes I don't want to kick myself in the butt. I want to enjoy it."

Whether the apparent parental dressing down worked or not can be judged during the next few weeks. Bonds began his 22nd season with a flourish. For April, he hit .356 (21-for 59) with eight homers and 17 RBIs. The Giants finished that month 13-11, which included a streak of 10 wins in 11 games at one point.

Bonds knows that the trend exists: when he plays well, the team follows suit, but he also knows that he can't do it all by himself.

"I know because I've seen it at both ends," he said. "I played lousy in the playoffs with Pittsburgh [1990 to 1992] and we lost. I had my best World Series ever for the Giants [in 2002] and we still lost. No matter what happens, I can't do it alone."

Pat, who's been a sports wife and mom her entire adult life, obviously knows that. She just wants her future Hall of Fame son to play up to his potential.

"My mom kind of woke me up," Bonds said. "She dug back to some old conversations that needed to be said."