After having an awfully tough time with the best club in the AL Central thus far, the Jays now welcome the team that's struggling more than any other club in the American League (notwithstanding what you might read in the New York Post).

The 8-23 Royals come into town without a lot of confidence, although they did gut out a victory at Camden Yards yesterday. Will the Jays get well, as they did against Tampa Bay? Or will Kansas City start to turn some of their close losses into wins?

This week's Scout features a lone bright light on offence, a very promising new reliever and a touted young starter who should sue his teammates for non-support.

On to the Advance Scout!

The Braves and Marlins continue to surge, the Mets and Nats hover just over .500 and the Phils continue to struggle.

Tyranny of One-Party Rule: Senators dominate again.
Midgets comb Beach, find treasure.
Kickers and Bashers reap rewards of violence.

If anyone needs some Photo of the Day mojo right now, it's Gregg Zaun. I didn't see the collision on TV, but it sounded pretty bad from Jerry, Warren and Mike's descriptions of it.

Get well soon, Gregg. Your pitchers need you.

The Jays lose, but overshadowing the loss is the injury to Gregg Zaun. This game report will take a brief look at his replacement, Andy Dominique, and then will touch up a couple of other players in the news yesterday.

The starting pitchers turn in five very good starts, two of them shutouts by Cameron Reimers and Shawn Marcum. Casey Janssen allows one run and gets promoted. Brandon League and Davis Romero pitch well, but don't win.

Yep, the Royals are coming to town starting tonight, and though it's not quite as obvious as the Jays vs. Rays Hall of Names teams we engaged back on April 6, all All-Royal team seems in order.

This may not be what you're expecting, though ...

Sox up 1-0 behind the 'smart ball' of hitting the ball out of the park.

A late homer was the highlight of a 1-2 day for the farm affiliates, as the offences struggled to score runs.

'Cause when love is gone, there's always justice.
And when justice is gone, there's always force.
And when force is gone, there's always Mom.

Hi Mom!

This fortnight will belong to Miguel Batista. Comments on Batista's pitching approach, delivery, stuff and command will be welcome. Of course, any other comments on the bullpen and John Gibbons' trigger decisions have a home here too.

The White Sox have won six in a row. As the immortal (because he never really existed) Jean-Luc Picard once said, "The line must be drawn here!"

The parent club might have experienced some bad luck last night, but the farm system needed no karmic assistance at all: a rare and welcome organizational sweep was punctuated by a power outburst in Dunedin and a couple of simply superb pitching performances. It all started, as everything seems to these days, with a late grab for power in Ottawa.

Tonight we saw something we had yet to see this season. Besides the chat. The Blue Jays gave Dave Bush a lead to work with.

It's taken parts of three years to get here, but at long last, we've reached the final installment of our 12 "all-month" teams for Baseball's Hall of Names roster.

This team, unlike all the other month teams -- in fact, unlike all the other month teams combined -- has a wide variety of major league players who bear the name of the month itself. I mean, we appreciate you June Greene, thanks for stopping by the booth, Don August, but the fortuitously named "May Bee-Knots" (a no-prize for anyone who designs the uniform logo!) is captained by its best player, a man born in May, who also made his MLB debut in May, who also is the greatest center fielder ever to play the game ... a man named Mays. Nice start.

But before we get into formulating the team wearing the emerald birthstones, let's look a little more carefully into this all-"May" name thing ...