The Jays reached the half way point of the season after Fridays game with a 41-40 record.  On one hand it is great to have a winning record at the half way point but unfortunately the recent trajectory has been down.  Also the fans have memories of last years fade still fresh in their minds.  Many forecastors had the Jays as a 70-75 win team, that looks like a good bet today.

The Jays had a bit of a stinker yesterday, Ricky Romero had a bad one and John McDonald showed why he is an infielder.

Jays farm clubs went 3-3 on Saturday.  Notable was the 6 RBI performance by Fisher Cats Left Fielder Eric Thames.

It was a wild night on the farm.  Dunedin had two hits through eight innings but won the game in eleven innings with four hits total.  Mike McDade hit a game tying, two-out, two run home run in the ninth to tie the game and the winning run scored thanks to two wild pitches in the eleventh.  Lansing had a comfortable 9-2 lead, that became an uncomfortable 9-8 lead, before winning 11-9.  Las Vegas won behind anoother home run from JP Arencibia.

New Hampshire lost by a run and left the bases loaded in both the eighth and ninth.  Auburn lost with the eventual winning run for Batavia coming on a bases loaded hit batter.

Recently arrived from New Hampshire, Dunedin 2B Luis Sanchez puts a broken bat to the ball.

It was a Canada Day performance in a similar vein to the big league club in the minosr, as the top 5 affiliates combined to go 1-4, scoring 6 runs between them. The DSL and GCL Jays combined for more than double that and both won. Go figure.

Dane Johnson is the Blue Jays minor league pitching coordinator.  Dane has jined us several times in Da Box.  Most recently Dane talked with us last summer.  I caught up with Dane over the phone last Sunday.

With the 51s resting, New Hampshire and the GCL Blue Jays provided the only offence on the evening. The Fisher Cats won by a run while the GCL Blue Jays posted the only victory. Meanwhile, Lansing, Dunedin and Auburn were each held to only four hits in their losses. However, there were a highly anticipated debuts from a rehabbing player and a highly publicized prospect, one of which certainly surpassed expectations.

As I write this, the Marlins and Mets are scheduled (it's raining) to play a regular season game at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Puerto Rico. Watch your late local news -- or SportsCenter -- for updates, I guess. In the meantime, who would have guessed that no less than eleven (11!) men with the first or middle name "Hiram" have played big league baseball?

The real oddity is ...

A recently exiled Blue Jay had a big night at the plate and a Jays first round pick earned his first win in high-A ball.  Those are the highlights of a 3-3 night on the farm. 

Have you guys been watching baseball recently? Personally, I´ve been busy following the craziest tennis match of all-time and, well, this (Go The Netherlands!). But this is a baseballing website, so let´s talk baseball.

Some technical problems prevented me from posting Sunday's minor league update.  Shame for you as I had a really clever headline ready to go.  In any event, to make up for it, here's Monday's action where it seems as though every Jay farmhand had two hits last night.

I had a chance to make my way down to Auburn Saturday night to see the Doubledays in action against the Indians affiliate, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, at Leo Pinckney Field at Falcon Park.  It was a pretty sloppy game for the home team thanks to a lack of clutch hitting and defence.

Our farm boys did not do us that proud on Saturday despite wins by the GCL Blue Jays and the Lugnuts.  Las Vegas and Auburn were low producers and New Hampshire was a no producer in runs.  To their credit, the Fisher Cats and the Doubledays have a share of the division lead in their respective league standings

They are peas in a pod.
Don't you think that it's odd.
- Part of the lyrics (that nobody knows) to the theme from TV's The Odd Couple

From 1970-75, U.S. broadcasting giant ABC-TV broadcast a wonderful little half-hour situation comedy called The Odd Couple, based on the popular stage play of the same name, written by Neil Simon.

The show starred the inimitable Tony Randall as neat freak Felix Unger and irascible Jack Klugman as sloppy, casual Oscar Madison, two divorced men who shared an apartment and a variety of personality and housekeeping conflicts.

So if current Seattle ace Felix Hernandez ever gets to stare down current Padre utilityman Oscar Salazar -- well, that might actually be a mismatch. But, then, was there ever more of a mismatched pair of roommates than Felix Unger and Oscar Madison? So maybe there's some serendipity to that.

Ah, whatever. Let's go to the rosters and see which squad comes out on top in the matchup between ... (sorry about this) ...

Already four no-hitters in 2010 and it's not July yet? Wow ... and, sorry, Armando Galarraga. But, Edwin Jackson, really? THAT'S your so-called "no-hitter"??? Sure, technically it was, but did you see Roy Halladay's perfect game? Or Dallas Braden's pefect game? Or even Ubaldo Jiminez's non-perfect no-hitter that has ignited him on one of the great pitching seasons imaginable for a Colorado hurler?

Jackson walked EIGHT and improved his season mark to 5-6, 4.63 by no-hitting the Rays. Hey, doesn't it seem like the Rays, who are really good, are either winning or getting no-hit recently? So what's up with that? Finally, speaking of Halladay, what's he been up to recently?

Over to you, Box Nation ...