I came home from Monday's game thinking I should have another son, just so I can name him after Roy Halladay. It was quickly clear to me that that wasn't gonna happen. So I turned my attention to the Internets, that mighty system of tubes, looking for diversion or entertainment or enlightenment.

And fortune smiled upon me. Over at the Southpaw, WillRain has assembled some interesting numbers, given them an intense scrute, and made some very pertinent observations. Let me urge everyone to check it out.

The affiliates split things right down the middle last night.  Syracuse got an encouraging performance from a recently demoted starter and came away with a walk-off win, New Hampshire battled back from an early deficit only to suffer a walk-off loss, Dunedin held on in a nail-biter, Lansing's offence didn't show up against the first place team in their division and the Gulf Coast Jays split a doubleheader against the team they're chasing for first.   Auburn had the night off.

Here are the links - tell us what you find notable from last night or in general in the minors.  You can even toss in the three stars of the night if you'd like.

Doc was in control again.  Jays win 6-1.

In other news Scott Rolen is going to be on a regular rest schedule to help his shoulder.

Just four regular season weeks left and the battle hots up.

Four of the five affiliates in action won yesterday, with Syracuse losing a 2-1 affair in Buffalo. It was a day of great pitching and good hitting with two of the victories coming behind shutouts and Ricky Romero and Randy Boone also throwing quality starts. While Syracuse struggled at the plate the same didn’t hold true for New Hampshire or Lansing, which combined for 19 runs. Dunedin only scored six, but they had 21 baserunners. Picking between all those batters was difficult, so the third star (the first two were obvious) went to a pitcher.

Come on! The Blue Jays are undefeated when Buck Coats is in the starting lineup.

Well, youneverknow....

Excellent starting pitching by Brad Mills, Marc Rzepczynski and Joel Carreno picked up three wins for their teams.  Brian Wolfe started for Syracuse but it was Davis Romero who was the better pitcher on this night., five perfect innings with eleven K's.  Both Lansing and Dunedin scored five runs in their first innings.  Lansing went on to win by eleven but Dunedin lost by seven.  Your first star is eighteen year old Tyler Pastornicky.

So let's venture into an Alternative Universe!

Brett Cecil had a tough debut in AAA although he did not have much support from the fielders.  Jean Machi, adrian Martin and Luis Perez each pitched well and led their teams to victory.  Auburn lost.

An eventful afternoon in Major League Baseball (although... not really?) as a sort of blockbuster trade gets done. I have to say, it really wasn't that exciting on the whole. Anyway, with the Jays needing a minor miracle at this point, let's turn our attention to those wheelings and dealings in major league baseball.

There is no way around it... It was a bad night for the affiliates. Perhaps the players were all too busy checking their cell phones to see if they were traded?

Lot's going on, none of it Jay related.

Revenge was sweet for the Fisher Cats after an extra-innings loss last night, Travis Snider and JP Arencibia had three hits each.  The most hits by a junior Jay was four by Raul Barron helping Lansing to the win.  On the other hand Syracuse were held to one hit by Chase Wright and two relievers.

Syracuse falls below .500 as their once-promising season heads down in the toilet, Lansing and the Gulf Coast Jays saw their losing streaks extended and New Hampshire lost a heart-breaker in extra innings.  On the positive side, Dunedin was in the winner's circle and Auburn drew closer to first place in their division with a key road victory in a 2-4 night for the affiliates.  Strange days indeed, most peculiar mama!