I'm on vacation this week, but the miracle of internet technology still allows me to bring you this photograph of Alex Rios glaring at Jay Witasick after being blown over by an inside pitch:

Royals 2, Jays 0 as Roy Halladay comes out on the wrong end of a shutout for a change.

Penn blew away the Sky Chiefs tonight in Ottawa.  He will be in Baltimore shortly.  

The farm affiliates went 1-5 on Saturday night.

You may recall some time back we introduced a new wing to the Hall of Names, when in late July we looked at a team composed of players who had the greatest Age 40 seasons in MLB history, Making the Top 40.

We now revisit that concept with a Plus-One twist and find that indeed, life just begins at 40 and actually gets better with a team we can only call ...

Shaun Marcum rights himself and the Jays take the all-important first game of the series.

The farm affiliates swept all seven of their games. The bats boomed, the pitchers threw strikes, the fielders caught the ball, and all was right with the world.

Oh great. The Royals.

If the Jays were a couple of games closer to the teams they're (theoretically) chasing, I would be psyched for this one. Christmas in August. Finally a break from the schedule maker. But now that the Jays need a miracle instead of a mere .700 run, this has all the trappings of one of those mid-September series at home against another eliminated team, and it's not even September yet.

At least you'll get to read about KC ace Luke H. from Tennessee and his dreaded one-seamer, Ryan Shealy getting his chance to shine, a 31-year-old rookie Disciple of Gagne and a guy who can jump over a car if you follow us...

On to the Advance Scout!

...but there was no confusion about it, as the farm affiliates went 5-1 behind some superb pitching and a couple of late rallies.  Turnabout is fair play.

Today's photo features Gregg Zaun leaping up from behind the plate to throw out a base stealer at second:

That didn't quite go according to plan.

Continuing yesterday's theme, today's photo features another collision.  In this picture, Payton has just crashed into Hill's legs to disrupt Hill's double-play throw to first -- the two of them are tangled on the ground, watching first base to see the outcome of the throw:

The farm affiliates were swept, courtesy of some lackluster offensive performances and a couple of bullpen collapses. The silver lining for minor league watchers is the upcoming playoffs.

Congratulations to former Jay Carlos Delgado, who hit his 400th career home run yesterday. I may be missing someone, but I believe only four men who have ever played with the Jays for any amount of time have reached that particular milestone -- Fred McGriff (493), Dave Winfield (465), Jose Canseco (462) and now Delgado. Joe Carter hit 396.

Though four of those five men have earned a place in Blue Jay lore -- one of them partly for being traded for one of the others -- is it safe to assume that Delgado will be the first Jay (of any length of service) to reach the once-magical 500 mark? How many will he end up with? Will he wear a Jay or "NYM" into Cooperstown? And are any other former Jays on the radar to reach the 400 and then 500 milestones?

The calm after the storm sees the Jays top the A’s in unremarkable fashion.

Kyle Ginley had another dominant performance out of the pen last night. The Jays 17th round pick this year out of St Petersburg JC has had a strong year in Pulaski.

New Hampshire was the only affiliate to win on a 1-4 night in the minors.