Three out of four teams lost in Thursday's action, in a slate of games which featured some outcomes that one might not have expected at all.

Okay, so, the site just deleted the entire Advance Scout that I wrote up, which, that's super annoying. Only the intro survived, and I don't have the time and inclination to write the whole thing again, so super abbreviated Advance Scout.

The Minnesota Twins are the worst team in baseball. They're last in the majors in both ERA and FIP by a healthy margin, and they're third from the bottom in the AL in wOBA, just ahead of noted offensive juggernauts Oakland and Seattle. They are 8 and 22, at least three games worse than anyone else, and they're -53 runs on the season, which is almost twice as bad as the next worst team. They are 3-13 in their last 16, and in a just concluded 9 game sequence against Anaheim (x2) and Seattle they were outscored 37-17. In the set against the Jays they're going to start two minor leaguers and two of the worst starters in baseball. So beware, for this sets up perfectly as a high expectations series that the Jays predictably blow. But never fear, the Advance Scout is here to talk you through it.

Strong starts in Triple-A and the Midwest League led to victories, with the former being a come-from-behind extra-inning affair. Meanwhile, the Fisher Cats lost in Brett Cecil’s return to the diamond and a first inning grand slam put Dunedin in a hole that Jake Marisnick and Sean Ochinko couldn’t lead the team out of

Some offensive players had big nights. Marcus Knecht had four hits and two home runs; Ryan Schimpf had two hits in one inning, one of them a home run; Anthony Gose had two hits, including a two run triple; and Kenny Wilson and Kevin Pillar each had three hits with a triple. The farm delivered two wins, one loss, and a rainout.

Full story link now available (as of 11:15 ET) -- if you see more stories to link to, add them in the comments please. As I posted this, I had just sprinted into my home office from the TV after seeing Josh Hamilton homer for the fourth time today agains the Orioles (he also doubled -- the 18 TB in one game are an AL record).

The Rangers won big, 10-3, so the O's fans gave Josh an immediate ovation. If you're gonna get trouncecd, at least watch history. And it's just the 14th four-dinger game in MLB history since 1900. The fourth one was to dead center, bounced off the top of the wall, up and to the left and just snuck over the fence.  Wow. Did I mention, wow? Four-homer games are just about exactly as rare as perfect games -- which would you rather see, Bauxites?

• The story from ESPN DFW -- Four! Hamilton slams 4 two-run HRs
• Cool trivia note: Elvis Andrus was on base as the sole baserunner for all four of Hamilton's two-run shots.
• Head's up -- new trivia challenge question within on Comment #12!

All numbers and references in this story according to the Rangers teevee booth and are welcome to be corrected and checked if anyone cares to do so. thanks to those already having posted some corrections, this lede has already been updated.

A quick two game set in Oakland, and it should be a good one, featuring each organization's top two pitchers (except now Brandon McCarthy is injured and my clever thematic theme is undid). And it's in O.co/Network Associates/McAfee/Overstock.com Coliseum, so we may not see many runs. Pitchin' and defense in the golden state, and I'll be rockin' my Advance Scout all the way to the golden gate.

Las Vegas was the only affiliate to put one in the win column Monday.

Halifax's own Vince Horsman is the pitching coach for the Lansing Lugnuts.  This year Horsman has had a lot of talent entrusted to him and he is expected to get them ready to pitch both in Dunedin and in the major leagues.  Horsman played parts of five seasons in the major leagues including four innings with the 1991 Blue Jays as a 24 year old.

I spoke with Horsman a week ago when I was in Lansing with the Lugnuts.  I have split the interview into two parts.  Today's deals mainly with the pitching philosophy of the Blue Jays minor leagues.  The second installment will be up as soon as I get it transcribed.

The affiliates went 3-2 on the day as Dunedin split a double-header.

Three outta four on the farm and a ton of nice performances including exactly the type of game Anthony Gose should have.

If Henderson Alvarez develops a change-up that he can use as an effective strikeout pitch, he could be the best pitcher in baseball. Discuss.

The Farm went 2 for 3 on strength of Las Vegas hitting and pitching, New Hampshire’s 8th come from behind win and a heartbreaking loss for Lansing.  Despite the loss, Lansing stays on top of the Eastern Division of the Midwest League with a record of 19-8.  Dunedin, with a night off, stayed atop the Northern Division of the Florida State League.  As we go up the organization, New Hampshire holds down the 4th spot in the Eastern League Eastern Division with a 12-15 record. And Las Vegas starts the weekend at 13-16, good for 4th place in the Pacific Coast League’s Pacific South Division.

A very quiet workmanlike night on the farm but the affiliates nevertheless went 3-1 without any real standout performances.

Circumstances! Only a chart today, so please talk quietly amongst yourselves.

In Lansing, one of the team’s mostly high-touted pair of tandem starters had their first poor outing of the season. Meanwhile, Las Vegas exploded for a dozen runs in Reno behind a solid start. The Fisher Cats had a quiet day at the plate and there was an unexpected source of heroics for Dunedin.