It's a battle between the top two teams in the AL in terms of run differential, though #1 Texas dwarfs Toronto (and every else, obviously). Both teams are coming off 1-2 series, and will be looking for a little payback, deep in the heart of Texas. It's supposed to be 34 Celsius in Arlington on Saturday and Sunday, with the games kicking off at 2 pm local time. Should be fun, just like The Advance Scout.

Also, some Jays news: Ben Francisco is on the 15-day DL, with the club calling up David Cooper to replace him. Evan Crawford is being demoted back to AAA, with Ryota Igarashi coming up to take his spot in the pen. This means Dustin McGowan is being moved to the 60-day DL to open up a roster spot.The Jays never really needed five outfielders, and in fact Francisco almost exclusively DHed, so I imagine that this doesn't affect the outfield defense at all. I imagine there will be some sort of L/R platoon with Gomes and Cooper, with Edwin DHing/playing first base. 

Sunday Update: Gomes down, Igarashi DFA'd, Jesse Chavez and Chad Beck coming up.

None of the starting pitchers you are familiar with at the top of the prospect chart pitched tonight. In each case these are the "Other Guys" - the ones who might have some talent but do their work in the shadow of more attention grabbing individuals.Still, in 3 of 4 outings, the Jays farm hands prevailed.

Just was thinking about where the Jays are weakest so far and where improvements are needed so far in 2012.

Late inning heroics for the Lugnuts almost make up for four losses in the other games.

The Toronto Blue Jays and the New Hampshire Cats will continue its affiliation into the 2013 and 2014 seasons, after signing off on a two-year extension of its Player Development Contract.  That means if Ottawa manages to land an Eastern League franchise next year, it will have to look south of the border for a major league affiliate.

New Hampshire's logos through the years during its affiliation with the Blue Jays.

Only two games on the docket and Las Vegas were the only winners. New Hampshire were rained out and Lansing had a scheduled day-off.  Reportedly Adam Lind is on waivers which expire today.  Teams that were interested in him have had three games to get a good look at him before the deadline.  Lind had two more hits last night.

A 3-1 night for the affiliates and it could have easily been 4-0.  Two of the teams reached double digits in the run column and another made sure the opposition put up nothing but zeroes.

The affiliates won three games. Justin Nicolino and Aaron Sanchez were almost unhittable with just three hits allowed in eight combined innings.

Despite managing just eight runs combined over four games, the affiliates split Saturday thanks to some strong pitching and timely hitting.

Haven't done a song in a while here, and it's been even longer since we did one for a specific player anthem. Tonight's game makes this too easy ... The original is here if you want to compare these to the (clearly baseball-inferior) original lyrics, the box score is here and the new lyrics are … well, no link necessary, they’re right here, only on Batter’s Box!

B. Morrow
With profuse apologies to the creators of the Broadway musical Annie.

The shutout was thrown by Morrow
He three-hit the Mets and so B. Morrow (and the Jays) won …

Just watched that gem by Morrow
Batista tried but lost to Brandon Morrow … who won …

How about our Jays, who played their hearts out …
Our middle infielders, had four base-knocks
And both RBI

The sun'll come out thanks to Morrow
We'll hang in this race with Brandon Morrow
It’s only May …

Oh Morrow, B. Morrow,
We love Brandon Morrow
His next start’s just days away …

The shutout was thrown by Morrow
Eight K’s and just one walk for Brandon Morrow
How ‘bout them Jays?

Oh Morrow, B. Morrow,
5-and-2 B. Morrow
His next start’s just days away …

Oh Morrow, B. Morrow,
We love Brandon Morrow
We’re so glad that he’s a Jay …

Lansing and Dunedin, with .707 and .659 winning percentages stayed their courses, each bringing home the bacon.  Las Vegas (20-21) and New Hampshire (16-23) continued their struggles, each with sub .500 records on the year.

My second-favorite squadron visits the Dome tonight to kick off interleague play, so I figured I'd elbow my way into the scout's chair for the long weekend. The Mets are 21-17, good for third place in the NL East. On the one hand, we're all accustomed to watching the Jays roll over against NL teams. On the other hand, the Jays will dodge the Mets' two best pitchers plus their starting catcher and shortstop. So, perhaps a miracle is imminent.

In every minor league affair involving a Blue Jays affiliate  on Thursday, the losing team scored a single run and 3 out of 4 times, that worked out in our favor.

Big news in Jay land - Adam Lind has been sent down to AAA

Brett Cecil had his best start of the year in the first game of New Hampshire’s doubleheader. However, the other three games in the system didn’t go nearly so well, as late inning relievers blew leads or surrendered game-winning runs in the late innings.