Some late inning heroics and a few laughers as your affiliates went 5-3.

The White Sox and fearsome Cuban slugger Jose Abreu visit Toronto.

The affiliates were 3-6 on Wednesday, with New Hampshire's game being postponed, Buffalo played a continued game from Tuesday, and 7 inning shortened game. 

Dane Johnson is the Blue Jays minor league pitching coordinator. Dane has joined us many times on Da Box over the years. Today I caught up with Dane as he was on the road and we discussed some of the pitchers in the system. I have lost my voice recorder so I just took notes of our conversation, reproduced below. Any errors are mine. I asked mainly about the lower levels of the system as we tend to know a lot more about the pitchers in AAA and AA.

A 5-2 mark for the affiliates Tuesday with one game suspended due to rain. One win was a walk-off.

The affiliates won three of seven games on Monday. The Bisons are back over the .500 mark and the Gulf Coast Jays are in the win column for the first time. However, the best performances were turned in by the boys in Bluefield.

Another first-place showdown is on the menu for the next three nights as the Blue Jays take on the Yankees at the Dome. As per usual, more roster moves have been made as outfielders Anthony Gose and Kevin Pillar have been summoned from Triple-A Buffalo. Catcher Erik Kratz goes back to Buffalo, Brett Lawrie is on the 15-day disabled list with a fractured digit and Jose Bautista has a sore left hamstring.

Anthony Gose will look to improve on his batting line of .233/.347/.291 in 34 games with Toronto this season. He is 3-for-6 in the stolen base department.

The affiliates were 4-2 today, with wins coming for Buffalo, New Hampshire, Lansing and Vancouver.  There was a bunch of strong hitting performances across the board that helped their teams to victory.

Buffalo split a doubleheader, Brad Glenn had four hits. Deck McGuire was hot and cold. New Hampshire had a late lead but Tyler Ybarra lost the lead and the game. Dunedin won behind Dwight Smith and Kendall Graveman. Lansing fell short but Chase De Jong had an excellent start. Zak Wasilewski and Boomer Collins led Vancouver to a win. Bluefield were shut down by good pitching. The GCL Jays had to face Jason Marquis who, as you would expect, shut them down.

Eight games on the farm on Friday and five wins. Jon Diaz propelled the Bisons to a win with a home run and a bases loaded walk. Aaron Sanchez ran hot and cold. Lansing broke out the big bats, Dawel Lugo had three hits. Vancouver swept a doubleheader, Miguel Castro dominated in his start. Bluefield won thanks to strong pitching.

New Hampshire led but frittered it away. Dunedin trailed early and their comeback fell one run short. The GCL Jays lost their opener.

This isn't going to be easy for me...

Some more fireworks in New Hampshire and Kyle Drabek shined in relief as the affiliates went 4-3 tonight.

Canadians owners Jake Kerr (left) and Jeff Mooney unveil the 2013 Northwest League championship banner with help from the Amherst Little League baseball club prior to the home opener against Spokane.

Tercet has had to go on the DL so here is your abbreviated minor league update. Buffalo were rained out mid-way, and Lansing are on their all-star break so there were three teams in action. Vancouver and Dunedin lost easily so New Hampshire drew all the attention. Daniel Norris made his first AA start and mostly it was good. He did start a beanball war that led to a multitude of ejections. The Bluefield Blue Jays start play tonight.

The affiliates had another disappointing day, winning just one of five games - none of them south of the border. Lansing - save for four Lugnuts - had the night off because of the Midwest League All-Star Game.