Morning start times across the board, and a 1-2 record for the affiliates. It's certainly an odd feeling when the Minor League Update is done at 3:16 PM the day before publication. I believe that's a new record.

No near perfect games in today's report, but there was some fine pitching, nonetheless. 2 wins, 2 losses.

He’s Gaudin for speed…

An undefeated night for the farm featuring a near-perfect game.

Pop Quiz: Who had more hits, Lansing or the three other teams combined? You can probably guess, Lansing had sixteen, the other three teams had 5, 5, and 3 for a total of thirteen. You can probably also guess that Lansing were the only team to win yesterday. Lansing's Jason Armstrong was the star of the day.

Whether or not you can jump a freight train, it is a sure thing that rain, early morning or otherwise, will disrupt a pitching staff. It happened to the big club in Cleveland, and the farm affiliates were not immune to Mother Nature's power on a 1-3 day on Saturday.

Friday the thirteenth saw some ugly plays in Syracuse, and the affiliates went 1-3. New Hampshire had the only win while Kurt Isenberg pitched well in a losing cause for Dunedin.

Syracuse wins in extras; Lansing lose early, and late:; and Dunedin go cruising. MacDonald, Thigpen and Griffin are your stars du jour.

"April review!" you wonder, "but Ryan, aren't we almost halfway through May already?" Well, yes. Yes we are. Any more questions?

The only team that won last night was the only team with John Hattig. Count the ring!

Two blow out wins and one fairly big loss for Josh Banks.

A 2 and 2 night on the farm, with the 3 Stars brought to you by the letter C.

The starting pitchers turn in five very good starts, two of them shutouts by Cameron Reimers and Shawn Marcum. Casey Janssen allows one run and gets promoted. Brandon League and Davis Romero pitch well, but don't win.

A late homer was the highlight of a 1-2 day for the farm affiliates, as the offences struggled to score runs.

The parent club might have experienced some bad luck last night, but the farm system needed no karmic assistance at all: a rare and welcome organizational sweep was punctuated by a power outburst in Dunedin and a couple of simply superb pitching performances. It all started, as everything seems to these days, with a late grab for power in Ottawa.

The Syracuse Skychiefs entered 2005 with expectations of at least a winning record, and perhaps a division title. April ended with the team's record at 10-11 and expectations have been replaced by inconsistency as the best way to describe the first month of the season. May has not started much better for the Chiefs but they have won two in a row.