The Jays took 4 of 4 contests last night. Lansing and Auburn had the night off for the all-star break. Quiroz incurs the wrath of the baseball gods and Miguel Negron makes his case to stay on the 40 man.

The Lugnuts win big, but the rest of the farm scores a collective 13 runs while allowing 30.

With the end of the season just over two weeks away some of the Jays affiliates are chasing playoff spots. Syracuse rode Gabe Gross' hot bat to beat Ottawa. The Chiefs need to win again today in Ottawa to set themselves up for a four game showdown against division leading Buffalo this week. New Hampshire were swept by Portland but are still in a playoff spot. Dunedin and Auburn would also be in the playoffs if the season ended today. And Josh Banks walked a batter, his first since June.

With the minor league season entering the final two weeks it was a good time to catch up with Omar Malave, the manager of the Dunedin Blue Jays. Malave is a long time Blue Jay having been signed in 1980 as a free agent out of Venezuela. Malave played in the Jays minor league system until 1989 when he ended his minor league career hitting .220 between Knoxville and Syracuse. In 1990 Malave joined the Jays team in Medicine Hat as a coach and he has been a manager at all levels of the Blue Jay system since 1991. This is Malave’s second year managing the Dunedin Blue Jays in the Florida State League.

Pop. Pop. Fizz. Fizz. The farm affiliates got good pitching out of the pen, and went 3-3 on the evening.

So the Skychiefs are visiting David Newhan's favourite city this weekend, and while I don't expect to see Guillermo Quiroz and John-Ford Griffin touring the Florentine Renaissance exhibit at the Natinal Gallery, I also don't expect to attend any of the games in person. Last night's match showed that was probably a good decision on my part.

Greeneville, featuring Koby Clemens and Eli Iorg, were defeated by Pulaski. Pulaski's starter Dennis Bigley gave up seven runs, but his ERA went down as all seven runs were unearned. Pulaski scored the winning run in the eighth without registering a hit. David Purcey and Zach Jackson win, and pitch well, while Ricky Romero misses out on the W by only pitching 4.1 innings. Five wins, with only one extra innings loss on the farm last night.

Some things you wouldn't expect to see in Syracuse, surprising offense from New Hampshire, a Frank Sinatra musical mention and two boxscore lines that will make you feel even older than you already do.

Yes. Even you, Magpie.

4 wins, 2 losses. Josh Banks was stellar again, while Davis Romero was not.

Lots of offence in Syracuse and Lansing nets wins for the Toronto farm; so does solid pitching in Dunedin, but in Auburn it’s not enough.

I had a chance to talk with Dick Scott for a few minutes last Friday. Scott was in New Hampshire with the Fisher Cats, getting ready to head for Dunedin and Orlando where the Farm Directors are meeting this week. Scott had seen Casey Janssen pitch for the Fisher Cats the night before and that is where we started the conversation.

Rob Cosby had a big day as the Fisher Cats won. Auburn came from behind to also win. Otherwise three losses made it a 2-3 day. With just over three weeks left in the season, three teams are in the playoff hunt.

The farm affiliates pulled out all the dramatic cliches en route to a 5-1 evening. Big leads almost blown in the nervous ninth. Walk-off homers. Walk-off baserunner kills. Let's hope the big boys were watching.

Baltimore loses 12-0. Bluefield loses 9-0. Oh well. At least David Newhan is out of Ottawa. A 4-2 Friday night for the affiliates.

Look here. The calendar tells me that it's August, which means that it's 3 months until Rule 5 draft. It was a non-event last year, with the exception of Kansas City's selection of Andy Sisco, but who knows what this year holds.