All 6 games on the evening were decided by 3 or fewer runs, while 4 were decided by a single score. The affiliates went 3-3 on the night, and guess what? Shaun Marcum is back!

When things aren't going so well for the Jays, I usually immerse myself in the minor leagues and think about what might one day be.  Sunday was a decent enough day for that as the affiliates went 4-2 and featured a few notable performances from promising youngsters.

Joe Inglett had five hits and six RBI's on July 4th to lead Vegas to a big win.  New Hampshire won 2-1 behind Kenny Rodriguez first AA start of 2009.  Dunedin, Auburn and the GCL Jays also were winners, Lansing the only losers on Saturday.  Among the prospects David Cooper, Moises Sierra and Trystan Magnuson are all hot right now.

The affiliates went 3-for-4 on the night, which wasn't too bad considering how they've performed on Friday nights in previous weeks. Both New Hampshire (!) and Dunedin had nice offensive outbursts.

The weather didn’t completely let up as two of the eight scheduled games were either cancelled or postponed. The other six games went ahead as the affiliates went 4-2. There were several fine pitching performances, including a fantastic game by Brad Mills in his return to Triple-A, and an offensive explosion at Double-A.3

Five of eight scheduled games were rained out.  Both Florida teams had doubleheaders scheduled after rainouts on Monday but a second day of rain gave them a second day off.  The three affiliates who did play all won.  Las Vegas wielded the lumber for 16 hits, and benefitted from good middle relief as did New Hampshire.  Lance Durham had a big night for Auburn. 

And that's pretty much it.  Two rainouts limited the affiliates tally to a 1-3 night on the farm.

The lower level teams each played a doubleheader on Monday, going 3-1. New Hampshire got rained out for the second straight day, and Lansing had the day off for the second straight day, while Marc Rzepczynski continued his fine season for Las Vegas.

The Jays' affiliates had an off-day, a postponement, and a suspension. In the remaining 3 games, they went 2-1.

Dunedin won a doubleheader 3-1.  That is they won game one 3-1 and game two by the same score.  Every other affiliate lost.   Fabio Castro had another poor start as Toronto's surplus of young pitchers shrinks again.  Mills, Castro, Cecil, and Purcey have each had their struggles this season.  This is common with young pitchers which is why the Jays say they are targetting 2010.  Dave Delucci had two more hits and is now 6-11 in his last three games, with four of those hits being of the extra base variety.

The Jays' affiliates had more rain-outs (2) than wins (1) on the night. Enough said.

It was a second consecutive good day on the farm with the affiliates posting a 4-2 record and the only defeats occurring in the Gulf Coast League and Double-A. Las Vegas won behind some strong relief pitching after David Purcey did not last long in his start. New Hampshire lost, but Dunedin won with a big inning and Lansing pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the eighth. Strong pitching lead the Doubledays to victory while the Gulf Coast League Jays lost after a disastrous first four batters to the game.

Everyone won (seriously, the affiliates actually had a collectively-solid night) except the young kids in the Gulf Coast League... and they lost in extra innings.

Blowouts were the rule rather than the exception but the exception featured arguably the best pitching performance turned in by a Jays farmhand this season.  It was a 3-2 night for the affiliates with Lansing enjoying the day off, save for one Lugnut who was at the Midwest League All-Star Game.

Adam Loewen hit his first home run of the season among his three hits.  Another Canadian, Randy Schwartz, also homered for Auburn.  Those home runs helped the only two affiliates in action to wins.  Dunedin used their strong bullpen to pitch five shutout innings waiting for the offense to break out.  After being one hit on Sunday, Auburn two hit Jamestown on Monday.