Five wins in eight tries for the affiliates. Deck McGuire threw seven shutout innings and didn't have a prayer at the first star.

The affiliates managed to win six out of nine Friday night.  With any luck, it could have been eight out of nine but one slipped away in the late going and the offence was mosty absent during a doubleheader sweep.

Editor's Note - The original thread linked the wrong Dunedin game.  It has been corrected.

Next up, it's the Tigers, who were awarded the AL Central title by acclamation last winter. After a sluggish first half, they're starting to play up to the hype. They called up Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante from their NL affiliate on Monday, and they look good to go for the second half. The Jays will dodge Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, but they'll still have to navigate a lineup featuring several high OBP figures at the top.

In three of Thursday's six games, the Jays affiliate scored but a single run, and in one of those three that was all they would need.

Lansing lost a wild game and Las Vegas lost a blowout but the other affiliates won with some strong performances at the plate for New Hampshire and Lansing.

Two affiliate wins by the top teams in the system.  Las Vegas's win moved them to within a half game of first place.  Chad Jenkins was good enough to get the win for New Hampshire.  Elsewhere on the farm there were a series of blow-ups.  Egan Smith had a no hitter through five innings but blew up good in the sixth as Dunedin lost.  Vancouver lost both ends of a double header.  In the first game they had a lead going to their closer in the seventh but he coughed up the lead.  Then he gave up another run in the eighth but Vancouver came back to tie but Eugene scored the winning run in the ninth.  In game two Vancouver again had the lead but lost. The GCL Jays took a lead to the ninth but made two errors to lose the game and throw a win away.  Bluefield were rained out and Lansing had the day off.

Five days ago, the A's were under the radar and the Jays were finished. Tonight, they'll meet at the SkyDome in the biggest matchup on the baseball calendar. The rampaging A's have lost all of two games this month. They just hung a four-game sweep on the Yankees and have roared into the second wildcard spot. Their game centers around aggressive pitching and excellent defense, but this month they've also played some longball.

Las Vegas and Vancouver could not be accused of having slow hands at the plate as they put up a dozen runs apiece.  New Hampshire and the boys in the Gulf could not be accused of having slow feet as they each executed a double steal of home and second base. That was part of a 4-3 Monday night for the affiliates.

I haven't given you a Data Table in a long time.

Consider this, then:

David Cooper and Moises Sierra combined for seven hits, two home runs and six RBI to help Las Vegas defeat Reno in the Pacific Coast League (AAA).

Two wins in seven tries and virtually nothing worth mentioning. So read on!

We've been waiting breathlessly for the final roster move to clear space for Happ and Lyon on the active roster. It had been speculated, and reported, that Andrew Carpenter would be Designated For Assignment.

But no. Jason Frasor goes to the 15 day DL with forearm tightness.

There were shutouts galore as the pitching staffs for three of the affiliates threw combined shutouts. However, it was a pitching performance in one of the games that wasn’t a shutout that really stood out on the farm last night. Meanwhile, Las Vegas and New Hampshire both went to extra innings, with one winning and one taking the loss.

Today's POTD looks at two of the players going to Houston as part of Friday's 10 player deal.

Sure, there was over half a dozen games to comment on, but I couldn't pass p that headline, could I?