Everybody wants a thrill
Payin' anything to roll the dice
Just one more time

Odds and ends from around the Canadian baseball world:

The Jays renew acquaintances with the Red Sox in short order after last weekend's four-game set. After taking two of three from the Devil Rays during the week, Boston sits a half-game back of their bitter rivals from the Bronx. Hopefully, Toronto took advantage of yesterday's badly needed off-day to regroup, shake off their disappointing losses against the Twins, and focus on making themselves relevant again this season. Though it won't be easy, a series win at hostile Fenway would be a great first step in that direction.

This weekend, the Jays face three pitchers coming off starts with which they were most satisfied. On the other hand, the feared Bosox lineup features three key injuries and some notable slumps. Enjoy this version of the Scout, and please have a safe and enjoyable Victoria Day weekend!

On to the Advance Scout!

A month has passed since the first look at college pitchers eligible for the draft. Now we have an additional month of statistics, plus the added bonus of Craig Burley's adjusted stats for 2004, in addition to 2003.

Tonight the best the Jays have takes on arguably the best team in baseball (note: the stats seem to be about a week old).

I've decided to initiate a new ritual - during every road game Roy Halladay pitches this season, my Halladay bobblehead will be facing the TV screen, overseeing the action as it were. I'll also have my Hinske and Delgado bobbleheads at the ready when their namesakes are at bat. If you have these bobbleheads, I invite you to do the same.

In three starts versus the Fenwaymen this season, Doc's numbers are:

20 Innings, 22 hits, 7 runs (all earned), 2 homers, 5 walks, 20 K, 30 GB/22 FB, 85 Batters Faced. His pitch counts were 110, 107 and 124 respectively.

Tragic news for the sabermetric community today as it was learned that Doug Pappas has passed away in Texas.

There's a gun in your hand
And it's pointing at your head.

Okay, it's not that bad. But sheer frustration was the order of the day for the Blue Jays and their fans, as a feel-good victory turned into a tear-your-hair-out loss on a ninth-inning grand slam. No doubt the Jays’ on-field and front-office personnel feel worse about this than anyone else. But the vultures are circling:

Slugfests and pitching duels in the minor leagues last night, leading to a split for the organization's four farm teams.

There've been lots of newsworthy events in the minors this season - chief among them being TJ surgery for "former" top pitching prospect Dustin McGowan.

Let's see who the BB readership and authorship think are the best prospects at this moment in time. Points will be awarded for each ballot on the following basis: 25-22-20-18-16 and decreasing by one to 20th place (1 point).

My list is as follows: 1) Quiroz, 2) Rios, 3) Bush, 4) Hill, 5) Rosario, 6) Banks, 7) Gross, 8) Peterson, 9) Adams, 10) McGowan, 11) Marcum, 12) Ryan Roberts, 13) Vito, 14) League, 15) Rich, 16) Mastney, 17) Justin James, 18) Felix Romero, 19)Tingler, 20) J-F Griffin

A rare 12:35 pm weekday start time for your Toronto Blue Jays, who set out for Boston after this game. Justin Miller looks to extend his string of good starts; opposing The Illustrated Man is righty Kyle Lohse. Orlando Hudson's hitting #2 today, and Eric Hinske and Josh Phelps are back in the lineup; Gregg Zaun gets the day-game-after-a-night-game start. Hey Torontonians: it's sunny and 20 degrees! What are you still doing at the office? Get down to the Dome and get yourself a ballgame, a beer and a tan! Vamoose!

Hey, I took a night off from baseball yesterday, did I miss anything?

Break out the champagne! Alexis Rios had four hits; Josh Banks had eleven strikeouts and the organization had a winning night.

No need to get uptighter
Come on, you little fighter
And get back up again....

It wasn't pretty, but the Jays will take it. As Spencer Fordin and Mark Zwolinski summarized, Miguel Batista couldn’t match the historic heroics of his former Diamondbacks rotation mate Randy Johnson, who fired a perfect game in Atlanta last night. But Batista did no-hit the Twins through five innings as the Jays held on for a 5-3 victory. Reed Johnson had 3 hits and 2 RBI for the Gray Jays.

How's this for a blast from the past:

I'm beginning to think that there's only so much a hitting coach can do.

Don’t let the fire rush to your head
I've heard the accusation before
And I ain't gonna take any more, believe me.

Game summaries from Geoff Baker, Mike Ganter and Spencer Fordin tell the story: Ted Lilly was homer-prone again, the bullpen allowed the go-ahead runs to score in the 9th, and despite a scrappy performance by the lesser lights on offence, the heart of the order again failed to produce (a collective 1 for 13 last night for Wells/Delgado/Hinske). It’s a theme that’s rapidly coming to look like it could be the Blue Jays’ 2004 highlights video.