The White Sox host the Jays having won four in a row (sweep of the O's). They easily sit atop the former Comedy Central division, thanks to great pitching, even better defense, and a 32-9 (!) record against their divisional "rivals." I use the pithy quotation marks because no division has a bigger gap between first and second place than the AL Central's 15 games.

Chicago is also 33-19 at whatever they call their stadium now, while Toronto is 23-29 on the road. The White Sox have been in first place in the AL Central all 121 days of the season and it doesn't look good for the Blue Jays, but this is why they play the games.

On to the Advance Scout!

Ho-Hum, Ho-hum, an average month for the Chiefs. To recap, April and May were disappointing and frustrating for the Chiefs, June was a big improvement and the team moved over .500, but July was just under average, two games under .500 as the Chiefs record was 54-55 at the end of July. The hitters took the brunt of the blame for the slow start to the year but it's the pitchers that pulled the Chiefs under .500 in July. Unless they can pull off a 13-2 run in August, Syracuse have to give up hopes of making the playoffs, they are seven games behind Buffalo, the division leader, but they are also seven games out of the wild card.

Possibly the most entertaining character on the team, here's Josh Towers delivering a strike to an unsuspecting batter:

Except maybe Casey Janssen, who is at his 3rd minor league stop this season and has yet to break a sweat. 3 wins in 5 games for the Blue Jay farm. Meanwhile, General Patton conquers July.

I'm a little bit weird when it comes to baseball. If you'll recall:

• I dyed my hair royal blue for opening day 2003
• I panicked last year and almost burned a vintage 1985 baseball cap that I found in a closet, convinced that it was bad luck
• I abused my work resources to make, among other things, a gigantic Hammer of Thor for Chris Gomez

My new project requires the participation of as many of you as I can round up.

The division leaders remain the same but the tension builds as the BBFL counts down the last five regular-season weeks.

Those that don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

The Braves will win the NL East every year until they don't.

Phil Nevin, one of the names involved in this year's Trading Deadline From Hell, appeared in yesterday's game and went 0-for-4 as Texas managed just one run against Chacin, Schoeneweis and Speier.

I mentioned Nevin to get on the subject of the trading deadline. It was, of course, yesterday, and in honour of this yearly occasion, I present to you a transcript of a Pinch-Hit Trading Deadline Roundtable Featuring Famous People Who Aren't Really Part Of The Roundtable (PHTDRFFPWARPOTR) from everybody's favourite Sicilian Cheer Clubber, Jobu. As with most things he does, this was done in the middle of the night, so be prepared for...well...this:

Two wins and four losses. Syracuse scored ten runs on nine hits, no other team had more than five hits. Dunedin won thanks to Davis Romero who threw a one hitter over eight innings, Ricky Romero will have to pitch a no-hitter to top that. Orlando Trias also had a good start while Chad Mottola picked up the third three star nomination.

The Game Report for yesterday's game will be going up a little later this morning; in the meantime, here's a photograph of Brian Butterfield talking to Aaron Hill at third base:

As usual, here's my monthly report card for the Blue Jays. Players are graded from a high of A+ (MVP calibre) to F (get thee gone, and never darken our door again).

Mike Wilner: Gustavo Chacin has just won Rookie of the Month. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Jays win, 5-1. All hail Speier! 13 pitches for six batters.

Actually, it's looking more like Trade Fringe right now. JP Ricciardi has all but said there'll be no deals involving the Blue Jays by tonight's no-waivers deadline, and despite all the talk of mammoth three-team extravaganzas, it seems the Red Sox are holding on to Manny Ramirez. So what is happening? Well, er, the White Sox traded for Geoff Blum. So it's looking pretty quiet so far, but in the event some big swaps do happen, or anyone wants to discuss the deals that do take place, here's your thread. Please attach links or references to any reported trades.

For those of you who don't know, Jays closer Miguel Batista has been writing a column this year for ESPN's Spanish-language website, ESPN Deportes.

Well they say I should approach you
With caution
But not to let you be aware of my fear
Never know what you'll find