An 11-game winning streak, including three over the Oakland A's, was not enough to diminish the loss of the most lamented DFA player in franchise history.



Danny Valencia batted .269/.303/.437 with 9 home runs and 48 runs batted in during a glorious span of 338 plate appearances in the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

Wednesday saw a lot of close finishes. Buffalo took a five run lead to the ninth inning and turned the game over to Joba Chamberlain. Ezequiel Carrera had to throw out the tying run at the plate to preserve the win. Bluefield broke a tie in the top of the ninth for a one run win. The GCL Jays had a walk off win. New Hampshire went to extras but conceded a grand slam. Lansing went to extras and lost in a more routine fashion. Vancouver did it early, walking their way to a loss in the eighth. Dunedin had a non-close loss.

Andy Burns had three hits and four RBI's for Buffalo. Dalton Pompey had two hits. DJ Davis had a nice night. Sean Reid-Foley and Jose Espada ran hot and cold.

New Hampshire and Dunedin were bombed and Bluefield was blown away in a doubleheader sweep. That's the bad stuff out of the way. The good news was the affiliates won six out of 11, including a doubleheader victory and a walk-off win.


The Vancouver Canadians celebrate a walk-off victory over Everett thanks to Sean Hurley's RBI double. Hurley almost lost his shirt in the celebration.

Brett Lawrie returns to Toronto for the first time after being traded to Oakland. It appears the Jays have done alright without him.



Josh Donaldson - homering in Seattle July 26 - has 31 home runs and 83 runs batted in while batting .297/.365/.578.

Please don't Bristol at the headline! The affiliates took three out of five Monday. Buffalo's game with Rochester was rained out and will be made up on Thursday as part of a doubleheader. Bluefield's home game against Pulaski was also washed away and they'll play a double dip today. New Hampshire and Lansing had the night off.

The Vancouver Canadians dropped the opening game of a series at home for the fifth straight time, losing to the Everett AquaSox Sunday afternoon.



Vancouver catcher Ryan Hissey has the baseball under his foot after Everett's Alex Jackson is hit by a pitch from Jon Harris in the first inning. That scored the game's first run and Everett would add three more to build a 4-0 lead.

Roster update also below the fold.

The affiliates had two wins on Sunday. Anthony Alford had four hits in the Dunedin win including a walk off double in the ninth. Scott Copeland pitched seven shutout innings to lead Buffalo to a win. In the four losses the opponents scored four runs in either the first or first two innings to open deficits that were fatal to the chance for a win. A couple of pitching prospects had rough starts, Angel Perdomo, and Jonathan Harris were gone early.

Another 4-4 day on the farm with two excellent starting performances as the highlights.

The Vancouver Canadians were able to rebound from a series opening loss to Spokane by winning the final two games against the Rangers affliate at Nat Bailey Stadium Friday and Saturday.

Friday


Justin Atkinson lifts a fly ball to right field in the sixth inning.

It was a splitsville Friday for the affiliates as they won four and lost four.

The Blue Jays play the first of 13 games against the Yankees in a weekend set at the Bronx Zoo featuring the top two teams in the American League East.

The Vancouver Canadians were hoping to begin the second half of their home schedule on a winning note in the first of a three-game series against the Spokane Indians at Nat Bailey Stadium.



Jon Wandling warms up in the bullpen prior to his start Thursday night.

Two standout pitching performances as the affiliates went 4-3 on the night.

Clinton Hollon was the star of the day with seven innings of one hit ball. He retired the last 19 hitters he saw to lead Lansing to a 2-1 win. Justin Maese also pitched very well in the GCL to lead that Jays team to the win. All other teams lost with Vancouver in the all-star break.

Gosh. Seems to have been an uptick of interest in the local team lately. (More than 200 comments in a thread, and I act!)