Because when you've lost seven straight and 10 of 11, nothing helps you right the ship like a trip to New Yankee Stadium.

There wasn't much offense to go around but there were some interesting pitching performances on the day, including an 11-K performance by Deivy Estrada in Bluefield.

It was five losses out of seven for the affiliates Saturday night and Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos was in the house to see one of them.

In the last 32 seasons, the Blue Jays have lost 90 games exactly once.

Las Vegas stayed in the hunt in their division with their second win in Tacoma to stay 5 games behind Sacremento in the Pacific Southern of the PCL.  Two offensive weapons returned to the 51s when Hechavarria and Gose were sent down to Las Vegas late in the evening.  New Hampshire, Dunedin, Vancouver and the GCL Blue Jays all won as well.

Of course, the re-habbing Jose Bautista might have had a little to do with that calculation.

It was a mixed night on the farm as Dunedin and Lansing won comfortably and Bluefield won by a single run, but the Fisher Cats and GCL Blue Jays each lost by three, the 51’s lost by two and the Canadians also were defeated.

There was little of note happening on the farm on Tuesday. The good guys were whitewashed, no wins in six games. Hits were in short supply, the GCL Jays had two hits, Lansing had three, Las Vegas had four, Vancouver six. You get the picture.

I confess I didn't see any of last night's game, but it sounded slow and painful for fans of the blue team. Eight walks and zero strikeouts for Romero? How is that even possible?

Anyway, just figured we could use a new big-league thread. Here it is.

Dane Johnson is the Blue Jays Minor League Pitching Coordinator. He has been a regular visitor to Da Box, you can check his previous interviews by clicking on the interview button on the left side. I caught up with Dane last Friday while he was in New Hampshire. I hope you enjoy his comments.

The affiliates posted a .667 winning percentage based on a 4-2 record Monday night.  Two teams had to be ecstatic that their offence reached double digits in the run column and the opposition was held to two runs or less in every game except one.

Dunedin and Lansing combined for just seven hits. Both starting pitchers - Jesse Hernandez and Blake McFarland - were roughed up.

Three wins in eight tries for the affiliates were highlighted by a couple of big nights.

The first place Texas Rangers come into town for a three game series.  Given the current state of the Jays, one win would be nice and two would be surprising.  The Jays throw JA Happ, Carlos Villanueva and Henderson Alvarez.  Texas answers with Yu Darvish, Roy Oswalt and Matt Harrison.  None of those Texas pitchers have been lights-out so the Jays are not outmatched on the mound but offensively the Jays have problems.

Eight games played on the farm, the good guys won half of them, and an dd thing happened in Lansing.