It was a 2-2 night for the affiliates as the Lugnuts and D-Jays put one in the win column.

Macier Izturis looked at a called third strike (there being little point in actually swinging at the damn thing) for the final out of the ballgame. It was the 133rd pitch Roy Halladay had thrown in the game, a new career high.

How about that?

Long time Blue Jay fans know the name Mel Queen.  Queen spent time in Toronto as pitching coach and even managed the Jays for five games on an interim basis.  Mel Queen gets a lot of the credit for remaking Roy Halladay's delivery.  Rumour has it he got on Pat Hentgens case from time to time.  Recently Queen returned to the Jays organization as a roving instructor.  When I showed up in Lansing last weekend I met Mel Queen for the first time.  I didn't think I was going to meet him so I didn't have time to prepare some historical questions so I just took five minutes or so from him and had him answer a few questions.

A week after complaining that the affiliates never play well on Mondays, and threatening to fact-check that claim, the affiliates threw a wrench in my plans by going 3-0. The evening featured excellent starting pitching at all 3 levels, and one player went 5-5 with a home run. Who was it? Guess you'll just have to click through!

I was in Lansing over the weekend and I saw two games, both Lansing wins.  I had the opportunity to talk with the Lansing manager, Clayton McCullough, the Jays roving pitching instructor, Dane Johnson, the Jays roving hitting instructor, Chad Mottola, and another roving instructor, Mel Queen, as well as several players.  Look for these interviews on Batters Box over the next week or so.  We will start with what I saw in the two games I attended.  Here is a quick scouting report as well as some comments on the Dunedin Jays from a scout I was talking to.

A fairly uneventful day on the farm as the affiliates went just 1-3.  Highlights included a couple of strong starting performances and some big power from the usual suspects in New Hampshire.

Revvin' up my engine like a 747
Shiny lanky long and lean
What a scene

The Jays rocked the Boston Red Sox again, winning 5-3 Saturday afternoon at the Rogers Centre.

Only one win, by Lansing, in a come from behind victory.  Dunedin and New Hampshire were blown out even though New Hampshire hitters had four home runs and Jesus Gonzalez hit a grand slam.  Several good starters had bad days, Marc Rzepczynski, Chuck Huggins and Henderson Alvarez each struggled.  Las Vegas lost in extra innings when Davis Romero ran out of gas.  Brett Cecil started.

Hey, I could get up and back, right on track
(Is that gonna get you back?) It's right on track, is that gonna get you back?

Casey Janssen had more close calls than Dr. Richard Kimble but he wiggled his way through seven innings to lead the Jays to a 6-3 win over Boston Friday night at Rogers Centre.

It was a rather uninspiring night on the farm with the late Las Vegas result still pending. The other three clubs went 1-2. UPDATE: Am I ever glad I didn't wait up... Las Vegas lost in 16 innings.

Funny how a 9 game losing streak shifts the Jays from massive depth in the pen and rotation with a solid offense to a team needing help everywhere :)

Lets do some overall checking...

Mistakes in the field, struggles with runners in scoring position and mediocre starting pitching all led to losses in the minors as the affiliates won one of five games. Brad Mills’s rough start to the year continued, as he remains winless, although on the positive side Travis Snider went 2 for 4. The Fisher Cats had a rough day in the field and Dunedin could muster little offence. Top first base prospects helped do the affiliates in, as Lars Anderson was 3-5 and Eric Hosmer was 2-4 with a pair of doubles in the first game of Lansing’s doubleheader.

Sorry, folks;  Life and work got in the way of a full minor league recap.  Here's an abbreviated look at Wednesday which was actually a good night.  3 games, 3 wins, all in the final at-bat.  Too bad the big club blew it.

Games like that make us all crazy.

Three affiliates managed five runs in their three losses.  The other scored ten and won in a 1-3 night on the farm.