There are 26 weeks in the baseball season, and 20 of them have been played. Which means - natch - that there are six weeks remaining.

Five AL teams are going to the post-season, and it's pretty clear that Baltimore, Oakland, and Los Angeles are taking three of those spots. The Orioles will win the AL East; either the A's or the Angels will win the AL West, with the second place team settling for a Wild Card.

Scott Copeland went seven shutout innings, Kevin Pillar had three hits and George Kottaras hit a three run home run to lead Buffalo. New Hampshire also won with a Charlie Wholestaff approach. Vancouver won, Barreto hit, enough said? Rowdy Tellez hit a big home run for Bluefield. The GCL Jays also won. Lansing and Dunedin had bad nights.

Daniel Norris recorded 17 outs and 13 of them were strikeouts. He dominated the Iron Pigs while the Bisons bats scored seven. New Hampshire scored seven too but they lost as Casey Lawrence had his second straight tough start against Akron. Ben White and Miguel Castro led Dunedin and Lansing to wins. Matt Smoral and Ryan Borucki combined on a three hit shutout for Vancouver. Bluefield also won while the GCL Jays were rained out.

"If I'd told you in April that they'd be 3.5 games back of--"
"Oh just stop it already. I am so sick of that line. I don't care if they exceed my expectations, I'm not going to lower the bar retroactively every single day to make sure I can call the season a success no matter how lame or qualified. That's so stupid. They make the playoffs or they don't. And seriously, how big does the number have to get for you to quit saying that?"
"I... I don't know."
"Sounds like you've given up."
"Well..."
"You know what? If you told me they'd be 3.5 games back of the second wild card on August 15, I'd be disappointed. You're selling this team short. Big series this weekend."

The affiliates wallowed to a 3-7 day. Several stellar pitching performances though marked the wins as Taylor Cole continued to rack up the K’s.

"It was the best of times, it was the BLURST OF TIMES???"

On Wednesday the Jays affiliates went 4-2, with 3 PPD games coming for New Hampshire, and two for the GCL Jays.  Sean Nolin had possibly his best start of the year for Buffalo.  Franklin Barreto continued to hit for Vancouver, and Chase Mallard gave the Canadians a strong start in a 14 inning game.

The affiliates came out on top in five of the seven contests that were played Tuesday night. Starting pitching carried the day along with a big swing from the man with the parrot. Dunedin had the night off.

This episode of 10 Photos looks at the only good thing that happened in Safeco Field Monday night.


Jose Bautista settles into the batter's box against King Felix, aka Mariners ace Felix Hernandez, with two outs in the top of the third inning. Behind the plate for Seattle is Mike Zunino.

The affiliates won just three out of seven Monday night. The highlights saw one of the affiliates pull into a four-way tie for first place despite a losing record. The lowlights were two shutout losses. New Hampshire and Lansing were not in action.

The Jays are off to Seattle tonight for 3 with a very, very tired bullpen while fighting for their playoff lives.  Seattle is tied with the Jays 1 1/2 back of KC for the last wild card slot.
Drew Hutchison vs Felix Hernandez tonight, J.A. Happ vs Chris Young on Tuesday, and R.A. Dickey, vs Hisashi Iwakuma on Wednesday before the Jays get Thursday off.  All RHP vs the Jays.

On Sunday the Blue Jays minor league system was 1-5, with a PPD game for Dunedin.  Daniel Norris was fantastic in his AAA debut, while Kevin Pillar hit in both games of a double header for the Bisons.  Casey Lawrence had his first stinker in a while for New Hampshire, while Lansing lost in extra-innings.  Vancouver lost despite having a lead in the top of the 9th, and Bluefield had a walk-off victory in the bottom of the 9th.

The Vancouver Canadians returned home after two weeks on the road for a late Sunday matchup against Tri-City. After taking two of three against the Dust Devils, the C's were hoping to continue their winning ways against the Rockies affiliate.

Ryan Borucki made his first pro start on Canadian soil. He struck out six batters over five innings, giving up two runs on four hits, two walks and a hit by pitch.

Only two wins on Saturday. Jairo Labourt had a lot of offensive support but he didn't need it. He K's 8 and only walked one in his start. On Friday the Jays obtained Michael Lee in a trad with Arizona. On Saturday he pitched six shutout innings. Edwin DH'd for Dunedin and was 1-3. Daniel Norris' first start for Buffalo was rained out.

A 500 night on the farm with Buffalo, Dunedin and Lansing winning. New Hampshire, Vancouver and the GCL team lost while Bluefield were rained out. Sean Nolin started for Buffalo and did OK, lots of hits but generally avoided big damage. Taylor Cole took the loss ut he pitched better than that sounds, he is acclimating to AA. Buffalo won by concentrating their hits in the first inning and hanging on. Lansing scored in the first two but added to it. Matt Dean and Mitch Nay led the offense. Christian Lopes and Jorge Saez led a big offensive night for Dunedin.

2014 draft lick Lane Thomas has been playing well in the GCL, good enough to get a promotion to Bluefield.