The A's are amazing. Every year, right after the All-Star Break, they start playing excellent baseball. Every year, they gain separation from the pack with a red-hot August. Every year, they coast to a playoff berth by showing no mercy to out-of-contention opponents with a strong September. And every year, they confidently march into the playoffs, only to play the Division Series and...um, hey, did I mention that they play great in September?

This week's Scout features a Canadian on a roll, a fading first-year player, a red-hot reliever and some fine play from the infield corners. Plus, check out which A's starter might present the best opportunity for the Jays to steal one this weekend; it may surprise you.

On to the Advance Scout!

A tough opponent and a great pitching matchup are on tap at Skydome tonight. The AL West-leading Oakland A's are sending ace Tim Hudson to the mound against the Blue Jays, who will counter with their best pitcher, former Athletic Ted Lilly. It should be a pitcher's duel, but Oakland can still knock the ball around, and for Toronto, Vernon Wells might finally be breaking out of his horrific slump. No word yet on whether the Syracuse call-ups will be starting tonight; the lineups should be available inside the hour.

A review of the classic baseball novel The Natural by Bernard Malamud.

Do I have to stay here ’til the end of time
I’m - good lookin’ and bright
I wanna see life after ten at night

Two wins and two losses, and two teams a total of two wins from two milestones. Two more are waiting for the playoffs. Oh, and David Purcey threw two-thirds of a perfect freakin' game.

It was a good day.

Today's headline goes out to Mike "Tenacious" D. My Spanish is limited to what I picked up on the PBS version of Sesame Street, so I'll leave it to other Bauxites to identify the phrase and its origins. The Blue Jays try to take the rubber match of their series with the Mariners tonight, as rookie Cha Seung Baek gets his first major-league start for Seattle. Opposing him will be Justin Miller, who has one month to show the front office he should be part of the team's 2005 plans.

All 5 remaining teams were in action and they scored scored 5 wins and 2 losses with a doubleheader and the continuation of a suspended game.

And tell with poison pills
Bitten in the valley of thirst
The body kills

Let's start with the good news: the Jays no longer seem demoralized: they're fighting hard to try to win every game, and they're not getting five hits a game any more. The bad news is: well, you probably know the bad news already.

Whenever things are going badly for the Blue Jays this season -- or indeed, for the rest of time immemorial -- you can always comfort yourself by saying, "Well, at least Toronto has never lost a game 22-0 at home." Two interesting young pitchers hook up tonight at Skydome. The home team sends out Dave Bush, who's been very solid in his rookie campaign for the Jays, though he needs to build up more stamina to get himself consistently past the 6th inning. For the visiting Mariners, one-time phenom Gil Meche continues his comeback from injuries and setbacks, throwing much better since his return from the minors. This one should be close and low-scoring through the middle innings, but after that, it could be anyone's ballgame. Ichiro Suzuki has more base hits this season than Carlos Delgado, Frank Catalanotto and Chris Woodward combined.

Syracuse wins big to get out of last place, while Pulaski wins big to finish the Rookie season. Charleston wins, New Hampshire is rained out. Auburn lets one slip away in the rain, while Dunedin loses to the Evil Empire.

Smokin' our axle grease
Oh, the backstage is rockin'
And we're coppin' from the local police

Here come two shellshocked squads. The Mariners and Blue Jays must be just astonished to enter this game a combined 53 games below .500 -- and in case you don't appreciate how dramatic their reversal has been, consider that the Jays and M's finished 2003 a combined 34 games above .500 -- that's an 87-game turnaround. Which Aug. 31 statistics would have amazed fans more in the pre-season: that Alex Rios leads the Blue Jays in batting average, Frank Menechino in OBP and Dave Bush in starters' ERA? Or that Randy Winn has more home runs than Edgar Martinez, Ichiro is the only Mariner batting above .290, and Jamie Moyer and Joel Piniero lead Seattle's pitching staff with 6 wins each? Baseball, among its many other attractions, will never allow you to figure it out. The rapidly unravelling Moyer pitches for the M's tonight, against the recently-hammered Josh Towers; bad hitting still usually beats mediocre pitching, so this shouldn't be a low-scoring affair.

After a tough go against the Red Sox and Yankees, the Jays' homestand continues -- this time as decided "overdogs." A punchless Mariners squad comes to town for what could be three tight, low-scoring affairs.

This week's Scout includes some down years by distinguished players, a trailblazing rookie pitcher trying to make a difference, and the longest bullet point in Advance Scout history. But it's for a good cause -- an in-depth discussion of the simply incredible hot streak a certain rightfielder from Japan is on.

On to the Advance Scout!

One week left in the season for all teams except Pulaski, who wrap it up today. It looks like Pulaski will miss the playoffs leaving the Jays with four teams out of six in the playoffs. Tom Mastny, Yuber Rodriguez and Clint Johnston take the medals.