Three of the affiliates took advantage of home cooking and came up with wins that featured a shutout, a near shutout and a walk off.  The one affiliate who was not home wished they never left.

Harmon Killebrew, the Minnesota Twins slugger known for his tape-measure home runs, has died at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., after battling esophageal cancer. He was 74.

I barely remember Killebrew, but even as an aging DH lumbering to the batter's box in his that-doesn't-look-quite-right Kansas City Royals uniform, he was an awe-inspriging vision of power at the plate.

The Twins announced that Killebrew died peacefully Tuesday morning with his wife, Nita, and their family at his side. He had announced in December that he had been diagnosed with cancer, then last week, announced that doctors had deemed his cancer incurable and he would no longer fight the "awful disease."

Harmon Clayton Killebrew, often called a "gentle giant," (yes, 6'0", 195# used to be "gigantic") hit 573 home runs during his 22-year career, 11th-most in major league history. His eight seasons with 40 or more homers still is tied for second in league history to Babe Ruth.

Rest well, Killer.

There were only two games tonight, so less work for me!!! Except then I decided to take a closer look at Lansing's season so far. Wondering how your favourite Lugnuts have been doing? Click through to find out.

Adam Lind has been placed on the 15 day DL, retroactive to May 8. He can return on the 23rd. Eric Thames has been summoned from Las Vegas. RHP Robert Ray has been designated for assignment to make room for Thames on the 40 man roster.

According the greatness of our friends at BaseballReference.com, there are currently 27 (okay, actually 26) players who already have at least 1800 career hits. The active career hit leader, with  2965 is, of course, Derek Jeter, who will join the 3000-hit club some time in the next four or five weeks. Who else will join Jeter in the Rose-to-Clemente dropdown list?

Let's take a look ... there aren't really all that many candidates!

I haven't done a cross-post with my blog in a while. Never a bad time for some self-promotion. Hope you enjoy!

And what have we learned?

Big leaguer Jose Bautista lit the world on fire in Minnesota on Sunday with three home runs but three affiliates were also busy in the Jays universe. Only one, though, came out on top with a win.

Stringer extrodinnaire, Eddie Michels, sent me yet another nice shot of Jayson Nix in his final rehab appearance in the Dunedin game against Jupiter on Sunday.  Sportsnet (noted via BlueBirdBanter) says Nix is being activated from the DL today and that David Cooper is going back to Las Vegas. 

Nix went 1 for 4 today with a BB and 2 RBIs. 

We don't usually post daily threads on the weekend so things like Bautista's epic three-homer game (after four homers in six games) sometimes don't get the recognition they deserve. After the jump, some of the crazy Bautista stats as researched by Bauxites.

In the Pacific Coast League, some of the most intruging names had good nights, as Travis Snider, Brett Lawrie, Eric Thames and Brad Mills all may have caught the attention of the parent club. The Fisher Cats won a slugfest, while in A-ball a pitching prospect had a good night after some performances recently. Bradley Glenn continues to be one of the few players in Dunedin swinging a hot bat, while Lansing had a thrilling ninth as the Lugnuts attempted to overcome some errors in the field for a late-inning victory.

Carlson Does Some Bullpen Work in Dunedin

Rehabbing Jayson Nix saw action in the opener of Dunedin’s doubleheader in the FSL, going 0 for 4 against Ft. Myers.  Lansing's contest vs. Great Lakes was suspended due to rain in the third inning. Dunedin swept and New Hampshire split in their respective twin bills against Ft. Myers and Reading , while late night Las Vegas lost at the hands of Albuquerque due to a brutal five-run 2nd inning rout of Scott Richmond.

Mel Queen died today at the age of 69. Queen served four years as the Jays pitching coach, from 1996-1999 (and as interim manager for five games), and during that span Toronto pitchers won three consecutive Cy Young Awards. Prior to that he served as the Jays Director of Player Development for 6 seasons. Perhaps most famously, Queen is known as the man who reinvented Roy Halladay’s delivery and helping to turn Halladay into the pitcher he is today.He served last year as senior advisor in the player development system. Queen pitched in the majors for the Reds and Angels between 1964 and 1972.

With offense way down for the second year in a row, I figured it'd be worthwhile to take a quick and dirty look at the Jays' stats so far, and compare them to the league totals from this year and last.