Wells Leads National All-Stars to Victory

[Kevin]

In recent years, the DTBL All-Star Game has been a glorified home run derby, making some of the game's best pitchers look foolish. In particular, the National Division pitchers have been rocked during the Mid-Summer Classic. But this year, it was actually the National All-Stars pitching staff that had the last laugh. The American Division's recent domination of All-Star Games came to an end as the National Division pulled off an 8-4 victory at The Moonshiner Ballpark in Fairfax. In the first two innings, it appeared nothing had changed as runs flew onto the board. American starting pitcher Mark Prior was surprisingly wild, walking two batters in the first inning and three in the game. Vernon Wells touched him up for a three run double in the top of the first to give the ND an early lead. Bret Boone led off the bottom of the first for the AD with a home run off of Jamie Moyer. The American All-Stars came up with three more runs in the second, thanks again to Bret Boone's two run double. They would not come particularly close to scoring again after that. The National All-Stars fought back with single runs in the fourth and fifth. They broke the game open scoring three runs in the seventh to take an 8-4 lead, which wound up being the final score. The last seven ND pitchers combined to allow just one hit in six innings of work. Almost all of the National offense involved Vernon Wells in one way or another. The Kings outfielder went four for five in the game with two doubles and a home run, driving in four runs. He was the obvious choice for the game's Most Valuable Player. His four hits tied a DTBL All-Star record. Another King, Tim Hudson, picked up with win throwing a scoreless fourth inning. Mike Mussina took the loss for the American squad. Bret Boone and Todd Helton had two hits each in a losing cause. Wells was the only player with multiple hits for the National team, but eight other players recorded one hit, including Barry Bonds who had a big two run home run in the seventh to put the game out of reach.