Two new Blue Jays made their Toronto debuts in the weekend series against the Chicago White Sox.  Not only do Bryan Bullington and Brian Burres have the same first name (though spelled differently) and the same initials, their surnames have the same first two letters, they're also pitchers and they're both 28 years old.   Their arrivals give Toronto three pitchers named Brian, joining Brian Tallet.  No truth to the rumour he'll change his name from Tallet to Bullet.  Now that would be cool.  Brian Bullet!  Kinda like this guy.

This is just more of the hard-hitting analysis you've come to expect here and we're proud to pass on the savings to you in these challenging economic times.

Seems like the only way you can get a win out of the Jays' affiliates these days is to have a major leaguer making a rehab start...

It hasn't been much fun recapping the affiliates on Sundays so far.  On this particular day, the four teams managed to go 0-5.  Read on, if you dare.

Sometimes you're the ball.  Guess which one the Jays were Saturday night at U.S. Cellular Field?   As our John Northey put it in yesterday's TDIB thread, "Sometimes you are the monster and sometimes the monster eats you."

New Hampshire, the only minor league affiliate with a winning record, were the only winners on Saturday.  Fabio Castro and David Cooper led the team to victory.  Dunedin were shutout and Las Vegas lost a 9-8 game.  Lansing was rained out.

It was a senseless slaughter at the Cell as the Jays socked the Pale Hose by two touchdowns Friday night.  No wonder Chicago traded for Jay Cutler!!

Taking a cue from the big-league club, the affiliates had a solid night with two wins and two losses (although New Hampshire battled until the 13th before taking the loss). Las Vegas led the way with a 12-run attack - and the pitchers finally showed some signs of life by allowing just three runs.

Some of the minor leaguers decided to emulate their favourite big leaguers yesterday and there were impressions of Roy Halladay and BJ Ryan on the farm. Predictably, that means the couple of Doc-like pitching performances led to a victory and a BJ Ryan scenario ended with a final inning loss. Dunedin had an off day and Lansing played a double-header as the affiliates won one and lost three.

I was watching the game last night and Campbell or Mulliniks seemed extremely impressed about something. I'm not sure exactly what - I wasn't giving them my undivided attention. But I thought they said something to the effect that Kevin Millwood has an exceptionally good record in games where he throws more than 100 pitches.

UPDATED! Woo-hoo!

The Jays placed Ricky Romero on the 15-Day DL with a strained oblique.  The move is retroactive to April 20th.  Yikes.

Yesterday, my dear ol' dad -- from whom, as I have openly admitted previously, I stole the whole "Hall of Names" concept -- sent me this one-line e-mail:

At the moment, the Athletics' pitcher, Outman, is pitching to the Yankees' Swisher.

Now, from a Hall of Names perspective, that's clearly Advantage: Defense. The batter is a swish-waiting-to-happen while the hurler is named "out, man!" Yikes!

What hitter/pitcher matchups can you imagine that might trump even that one? Note: they don't have to be contemporaries who actually faced each other. In fact there are no rules -- first names, last names, nicknames -- go to it! Spelling is an optional luxury; it's all about the pronunciation. For instance, you could have '90s pitcher Reynoso facing old-time infielder Granny for a fierce Armando/Hamner (Arm & Hammer) matchup. Or possibly the greatest matchup ever in the history of the universe ...

New Hampshire mimicked the Red Sox by sweeping a doubleheader, but they didn’t even have the benefit of playing at their home ballpark. Las Vegas won, while Dunedin avoided the sweep behind some fine relief pitching from the usual suspects and some offence and defence from one of the hottest bats in the entire system. Only Lansing prevented a day of wins, from the parent club on down, as the Lugnuts lost convincingly to South Bend.

When I play a dope melody - Anything less than the best is a felony........
If there was a problem - Yo, I'll solve it
Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it - Ice Ice Baby!

Like the tune he once used for striding to the plate with the Orioles, Kevin Millar came through under pressure by rapping one to the left-center field gap to drive in the winning run.  That helped the Jays break a come from ahead 7-7 tie for an 8-7 victory over the Texas Rangers in 11 innings at Rogers Centre Wednesday night.  Word to your Texas mothers!  (but in a nice way for our Texas readers!).

At least Mother Nature came through for the other two affiliates.  I think Porky Pig said it best.

Friend of Batter's Box Jamey Newberg, proprietor of the best major league baseball e-mail newsletter on the planet, just posted a special edition of his daily missive to Texas Rangers (and other baseball) fans everywhere. Here's part of what he wrote:

We were on the road, starting a seven-game trip, losers of seven out of nine, facing the team with the best record in the American League, matched up against perhaps the most consistently dominating pitcher in the league ...