Some more fireworks in New Hampshire and Kyle Drabek shined in relief as the affiliates went 4-3 tonight.

Canadians owners Jake Kerr (left) and Jeff Mooney unveil the 2013 Northwest League championship banner with help from the Amherst Little League baseball club prior to the home opener against Spokane.

Tercet has had to go on the DL so here is your abbreviated minor league update. Buffalo were rained out mid-way, and Lansing are on their all-star break so there were three teams in action. Vancouver and Dunedin lost easily so New Hampshire drew all the attention. Daniel Norris made his first AA start and mostly it was good. He did start a beanball war that led to a multitude of ejections. The Bluefield Blue Jays start play tonight.

The affiliates had another disappointing day, winning just one of five games - none of them south of the border. Lansing - save for four Lugnuts - had the night off because of the Midwest League All-Star Game.

A first-place throwdown in the American League East begins tonight. Two teams enter the Bronx Zoo, one will emerge victorious. Maybe Munenori Kawasaki will be the difference. The Toronto Star says Kawasaki has been called up from Buffalo due to the possibility that first baseman Adam Lind or reliever Brett Cecil will head to the disabled list.


Munenori Kawasaki is back from Buffalo after hitting .276 with nine runs batted in. The 33 year-old lefthanded hitter was batting .378 in his past 10 contests with the Bisons. He was 3-for-12 in three games with the Jays earlier this season.

A 1-3 Monday for the affiliates was marred by an epic bullpen collapse in which a seven-run lead was blown. Still, there were some nice efforts turned in with the bats, including one by a top five prospect. New Hampshire and Lansing did not partake in any rawhide activities.

The affiliates were 1-3 on Sunday, despite strong pitching across the board.  Liam Hendriks, Scott Copeland, Jeremy Gabryszwski, and Miguel Castro started for the affiliates and were all brilliant.

Aaron Sanchez made his highly anticipated AAA debut on Saturday. On paper it was not a good start, he gave up five runs in four plus innings. But there were some mitigating factors that made his start not as bad as it seems from the stat line. New Hampshire were shutout and lost 1-0. Lansing and Vancouver won. Several Dunedin players did well at the FSL all-start game.

Franklin Barreto had four hits leading Vancouver to a win in their first game. Buffalo and New Hampshire each rode a couple of home runs to wins. Lansing had more errors than hits and that means a loss. Dunedin had the day off.

Not much winning on the farm tonight although the Dunedin squad clinch a playoff spot as the FSL North’s first half champion. The affiliates went 2-4.

The Toronto Blue Jays open up a four-game series against the Orioles in Baltimore. Meantime, the Jays have acquired outfielder Adron Chambers from the Houston Astros for two minor leaguers.



Adron Chambers is now a member of the Blue Jays organization. Going to the other way to Houston are lefthander Alejandro Solarte and second baseman Will Dupont. Solarte posted a 2.98 earned run average and Dupont batted .262 for the Gulf Coast Blue Jays last season.

New Hampshire, and Lansing each won by a run.  Dunedin's game was rained out, and Buffalo had an off day.  Also the Jays made a couple interesting milb roster moves over the last 24 hours.

Yesterday we looked at the hitters stats from extended, today it is the pitchers turn. There were 47 pitchers listed on the stats sheet but 11 of those were on rehab or were later promoted to a full season team. That leaves 36 pitchers. Of that 36, 27 threw 20 inninings or more. The most innings thrown by a pitcher was 43 by Jesus Tinoco.

So you think you're pretty hot, eh? You think there's nothing that can knock you off your hill?

The affiliates came away with a clean sweep in the U.S.A. by going 4-0 Tuesday, scoring a combined 33 runs.