The Jays ride into the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, the stompin' grounds of our very own Mick Doherty (and, according to Mapquest, three and a half hours from the stompin' grounds of our very own Scott Lucas). The Rangers come into play with an absolutely reeling bullpen, as even ace reliever Francisco Cordero has proven mortal this season after gagging two leads to the rival Angels.

The Fightin' Jays would do well to press on with their offensive patience and persistence, because there are lots of ways to get on base against the Rangers' staff. The downside, of course, is that the Jays' pitching staff travels from a forgiving Oakland outfield to a windy Arlington bandbox. The bottom third of the order, presumed to be the weak link in a powerful Rangers lineup, has actually swung the bats very well in the early going.

It should be four shootouts at Ameriquest Field. Can the Jays win yet another series?

On to the Advance Scout!

Last September John Suomi was playing in the most exciting baseball series of his life and he had every reason to feel on top of the world. The 23-year-old catcher had just completed a very solid season for the Modesto A’s of the California League, which had included a spot in the California League All-Star Game. The A’s were playing the Lancaster Jethawks in the California League Championship Series and the best of five series was knotted at one game apiece. Suomi had solidified his status as something more than organisational filler, and a ticket to Double-A looked to be in the cards for 2005. However, in the third game of the championship series came the play that may have irreparably changed Suomi’s career.

Our expanded Photo of the Day extravaganza continues!

Today we have Butterfield talking to Rios after Rios was caught stealing on April 9th:

Last night, Josh Banks navigated his way to seven innings of shutout ball, John-Ford explored the art of the extra-base hit and a couple of Canadians helped Lansing to an extra-inning win.

Or, their first home win, at least: Oakland 6, Jays 3.

• 1 pitcher's duel (6 innings)
• 2 miscues, Blue Jays flavour (or 1, if preferred)
• 2 homer announcers
• 15 860 fans
• 50 players, divided

Mix players with fans in large Coliseum-sized bowl. Quickly add pitcher's duel (less than 1 hour, 15 minutes). Sprinkle in miscues and garnish with homer announcers. Serve Pacific-style.

Two fine young pitchers in this one, Dave Bush (0-1) for Toronto takes on Joe Blanton (0-0) of the A's.

I'm homeless.

I am really, really, really sick and tired of hearing "It's early, but . . ." What if some of the early-season events are actual indicators and not merely scurrilous scatterings of small samples? So let's all play the first annual (snicker) edition of "Fluke" vs. "Trend"! Grab some Yoohoo, find a friend (or hire one, this being a community of nerds, after all), and pull up a chair (or two, this being a community of fat nerds, after all).

Our daily expansion of Photo of the Week continues with the mighty Gregg Zaun, who hit another homer last night.

This picture is of Zaun watching his grand slam sail towards the fences on Saturday:

A 2 for 4 night on the farm. The Skychiefs (3-3) and the Lugnuts (4-1) lose, but the Fisher Cats (3-3) and D'Jays (4-2) win.

Paul Beeston gained a degree of baseball immortality when he famously (or infamously, depending on your point of view) said: "Under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, I can turn a $4 million profit into a $2 million loss, and I can get every accounting firm in the country to agree with me."

Which is to say, and the MLBPA would certainly agree, we oughtn't put a lot of faith in major-league baseball's financial statements. That said, here are some interesting figures from the current online edition of Forbes magazine.

The Jays moved 2.5 games in front of Boston and New York, and stayed 1.5 games ahead of the second-place Orioles, with a solid 5-2 win in Oakland. The key blow was once again struck by The Dude Himself, Eric Hinske, whose fourth-inning homer off Dan Haren capped a two-out rally and plated three runs.

Springtime in Oakland
Josh Towers, Danny Haren
A 10:05 start

Roster member Craig B is going to be talking on Dave Weekley's show tonight before the Reds-Cards game on 580 WCHS-AM in Charleston, West Virginia. If you're within transmitter range, don't miss it - I'll be on the air around 7:30.

As a special early season treat, every day at lunchtime I'll be posting a new photograph.

Day two of Photo of the Day brings us Eric Hinske's new and obviously improved batting stance: