Friday Fiver loses it!

1. Name one thing you've quit: Boy Scouts

2. Name something you've won: Judas Priest tickets

3. Describe a subject in school you did poorly in: Math

4. Have you ever purposely not done your best? A couple of times, when I realy disliked my boss or found the task at hand to be pointless.

5. Do you lead, follow, or get out of the way? Yes. Depends on the situation, the group dynamic, etc.

704!

Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the delay, but this train is running again!

San Francisco Giants: 5
Los Angeles Dodgers: 4

Bonds HR nice, but Linden single nicer

There was the great false alarm Monday night, when Barry Bonds played his first game of 2005 and in his first at-bat jacked a ball to the top of the left-field fence. A few innings later, he shot one to the warning track in center. Then there was Thursday night's monster foul into San Francisco Bay.

In the Giants' dramatic 5-4 victory over the Dodgers on Friday night, Bonds finally ended the tease. On the second pitch he saw from Brad Penny in the first inning, he officially restarted his chase for the Babe and the Hammer by hitting his first home run of 2005 and the 704th of his career.

...

That was the early drama. The second act came in the ninth, when Todd Linden won the game with a one-out, broken-bat single against Dodgers reliever Duaner Sanchez, which broke a 4-4 tie. Sanchez started the ninth and walked pinch-hitter Edgardo Alfonzo. Mike Matheny sacrificed pinch-runner Doug Clark to second on an 0-2 pitch before Linden, in a 1-for-24 dive, busted his bat and dinked a single to right field.

Clark scored standing, without a throw.

Armando Benitez, coming off that killer blown save against the Padres on Wednesday, retired the Dodgers' 3-4-5 hitters in order in the ninth to earn the victory.

Bonds was not a solo act on offense. Omar Vizquel hit a two-run double and Randy Winn, who already has a cycle this year, nearly did it again. His four hits included two singles, double and homer, the second time this month he fell one leg short of becoming the second player since 1900 to hit for the cycle twice in a season.

GO GIANTS!!!