Lucky 8 - I've always appreciated Yorvit Torrealba's energy and everything he brings to the game. For someone who hasn't seen much playtime yet, he was immediately HOT in today's game. He hit his first career grand slam with the first pitch he saw today! Then, goes on to hit the game-winning walk-off double in the 11th against the reigning World Championship Marlins. It was a huge win, all-around. And those pesky Marlins stayed in it, to the very end.

Rich Draper, from MLB.com reports that Bonds has 22 intentional walks this season. ..."Taking the bat out of a super-duper-megaslugger like Bonds does make sense. It's not cheating, not illegal. Besides, given an opportunity to swing this season, he has merely hit .463 with 10 homers, a 1.111 slugging percentage, 22 RBIs and a .526 mark over his last 18 games. Putting his walks into perspective, the second-ranking team in the Majors, Atlanta, has 12 intentional free passes..."

Also, MLB.com radio interviewed Felipe Alou recently. Alou reports that Nen has recently thrown the best he has in the past 18 months. Further, he went on to talk about Barry's mental discipline and recalls a stretch of time last season where Barry only received two hittable pitches within a week, and he sent both of those pitches out of the yard...

Community Gatepath All Stars
We didn't take home the win this past week, but we still looked like WINNERS out there! I'm breaking from tradition, to mention this loss, because I can't keep all this PRIDE to myself!

Highlights:
It was her time to Shine - T.H. brought in 3 runs on 3 hits, with 2RBI - But that's not all - She nearly went for the cycle, hitting a single, a double and triple - If we had one more inning of playtime, I'd bet my money on a homerun, given her hitting pace this season!

Offense:
C.C. hit a powerful single in the 5th inning - so powerful, she had enough time to stare at us in the dugout, and chat us up, BEFORE she safely reached base!
2B: Mitch, Teresa, Alex, Patty, John
3B: Teresa, Alex
*No Homeruns tonight, but our pitcher, A.L., nearly hit one out of the park in Left field (unfortunately, it was beautifully relayed in to home plate, preventing him from scoring a run, by a milli-second!).

Defense:
J.H. showed "mad skillz" as he nearly broke the sound barrier, leaping, fully extended (a witness says he was completely horizontal *he was the witness), into the stratosphere, making the play, catching our opponent’s absolutely mammoth hit out towards left centerfield.

Mitch: 2-4 (2B), 1 run
Teresa: 3-4 (2B, 3B), 3 runs, RBI (2)
Alex: 2-4 (2B, 3B), run, RBI (2)
Patty: 2-4 (2B), 2 runs, RBI (2)
John: 3-4 (2B), run, RBI
Nancy: 2-4, RBI
Chris (Pam’s guest): 2-4, RBI
Pam: Our #1 recruiting agent!
Mark (Pam’s guest): 2-3, run
Cathy: 1-3 (Additional defense notes: our Catcher made two crucial plays at home plate, preventing our opponents from scoring two runs!)