Pitching & Defence wins in Charleston but not in Dunedin or Auburn; Arena Baseball wins in Syracuse but not in Pulaski.

John Gibbons benched Orlando Hudson against knuckler Tim Wakefield last week in Boston, fearing that the flutterball would mess up the O-Dog's timing and halt his hitting streak. No such fears tonight, as Hudson bats second against Wakefield while the Jays try to continue their sudden run of success against the AL East. Miguel Batista won't have his A-game defence behind him, as Vernon Wells sits down to rest his ailing calf muscle. Reed Johnson plays center, and Gabe Gross takes over in left; that's still a better outfield than many previous alignments this season in which the name "Berg" appeared. Frank Menechino slides into the DH position and the 5th spot; against Wakefield, the more veteran hitters the better. Chris Gomez picks up what has become a rare start at shortstop.

A cornered Moscow Rat fought off the Toronto Walrus for a victory, but the 6-5-1 margin couldn’t propel him any higher in the standings. The Rats remain outside the consolation bracket, hungrily eyeing the Shore Birds and Magicians just ahead of him. The Walrus still holds first but lost ground on his three closest opponents, all of whom had decisive victories.

bird droppings dropped a tantalizing hint that he and the mighty O-Drum would make an appearance in the Boston series. What better time to fire up the troops with some noise than right after a road trip sweep of the Orioles?

Jordan DeJong's hit makes a loser of the Fisher Cats. Aaron Hill has a good day. David Purcey makes his debut. Auburn clinch a playoff berth, while Juan Perez makes two starts in one day!

Last Thursday night, plate umpire Joe West called an illegal pitch (and consequently ball four) on a 3-2 pitch from Pirates starter Oliver Perez to Reggie Sanders of the Cardinals, leading off the second inning. Lloyd McClendon did his Interminable Argument Dance, even though Perez and the bench had earlier been warned about the illegal delivery. The Pirates played the rest of the game under protest; they won 3-2, making the protest moot. The aftereffects of the call, though, remain.

Sacrailiac
Spineless movement
And a wild attack

They've tantalized us before, these Blue Jays have. Mired in the depths of a very disappointing season, from time to time they've stood up to reel off several wins in a row, making their fans think that the slump is over and the real Fighting Jays are about to emerge. Alas, opposition sweeps and losing streaks have invariably followed instead, until it became clear to even the most ardent fans that this isn't just a bad stretch or series of stretches, it's a bad season from what has been, on balance, a pretty bad team. So is there any reason to think that the current winning streak will be any different?

To celebrate this summer's Olympiad in Greece, we've assembled the all-Grease team for our ongoing Baseball's Hall of Names collection.

Two nights of double digit scoring does wonders for the soul. 4th place is now within striking distance.

While the bats on the big club boomed, they fell silent for the farm affiliates on a 1-4 night.

You could say I lost my faith in the people on TV
You could say I'd lost my belief in our politicians
They all seemed like game show hosts to me

And I'm still standing here, and you're miles away
And I'm wonderin' why you left
And there's a storm that's raging through my frozen heart tonight

Three wins, two losses, one serious thumping and a rainout: just another Friday night at the ballpark for the Junior Jays.

So that's what it feels like when your team is hitting the ball!

Remember the Orioles comeback win on Sunday at the Dome? Remember how the Orioles were saying it was their biggest win of the year? Well, for believers in the mystical concept of momentum in sports, I submit the following:

Since that game, Baltimore has lost four straight (all at home) by a combined score of 33 to 9.