Dane Johnson, the ex-Blue Jay pitcher, is now the minor league roving pitching instructor for the Jays. Johnson was originally drafted by the Jays in 1984, and made it to the major leagues ten years later. Johnson was visiting Buffalo last week and took a few minutes to talk with Batter's Box about some of the organization’s pitching prospects.

Big innings are the order of the day as the Toronto farm wins 3 and loses 2.

With the end of the season now just over one week away only Dunedin and Auburn are serious contenders for playoff spots. Syracuse rode Gabe Gross' hot bat and Zach Jackson's arm to beat Ottawa. New Hampshire were swept by Portland, again, and are almost dead in their chase for a playoff spot. David Purcey pitched on the wild side. Jacob Butler played his first game for Auburn and had a good day, just not as good as Ryan Patterson.

The offence was feast or famine on the Toronto farm, as they scored a total of 18 runs in 2 wins and just 1 in 4 losses.

If there's anything more fun than a minor-league no-hitter, I'd like to know what it is. The fans (usually an intimate crowd that figures out early what's going on) are totally into it, the players (most of whom are very young and have never experienced one before) are crazy-intense, and the celebration afterwards is amazing. Sincere congratulations from the Batter's Box crew to Robert Ray and Adrian Martin of Auburn, whose outstanding performance was the signal highlight of a 4-2 night on the farm.

They weren't all singles that the Sky Chiefs saw flying around Dunn Tire park yesterday, as the Chiefs were dumped unceremoniously. The farm affiliates went 4-3.

Shutouts galore and the quickest AA update ever.

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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.