Lilly grabs his career high thirteenth win

Only three of the twelve lower-seeded teams won in the opening round of the BBFL playoffs. This week, the bye teams return to battle.

Looking back at this year's photos of the day, it appears that Frank Catalanotto is criminally under-represented.  So here's the Cat, checking his swing:

The one-man version of the two-man Advance Scout team continues this week as Alex finds himself leaving on a jet plane. Classes have started yet again for yours truly -- by the time you read this, I'll be in another one -- so this preview of two also-rans in late September is not as full of information as the preceding ones. I don't think King Felix will flirt with a no-hitter this time, but youneverknow.

On to the Advance Scout!

The modern division of labour among the various members of the pitching staff puzzles me. You know the division I am speaking of- five starters whose role it is to throw 6-7 innings, a closer who takes the ninth inning with leads of 3 runs or less, and six other relievers who fill in between the starters and closer. I suppose it is not too bad if a team has four or five starters who can fulfil the role well. The Angels and White Sox of 2005 certainly made it work, but what if a team doesn’t have those starters on hand?

At this point, it's mostly about the Fight for Second Place. Not just in the AL East, either.

And so it ends. All three playoff runs ended Sunday. Dunedin lost three straight games in the final as their pitching just wasn't good enough. Lansing had struggled in the second half and injuries in the pitching staff left them weak, they lost both games by six runs. Auburn lost both of their games by a single run, one in the eighth inning and one in the ninth. This brings an end to the 2006 minor league updates, look for our top 30 and other features in the next few weeks.

Adam Lind deserves some photo of the day respect; unfortunately, I've only photographed that one Cleveland game during his time up with the big club, and as far as I can recall he had only the one at-bat.  As a result, my coverage is pretty limited.  With that in mind, here's Lind stepping up to the plate:

"Always look on the bright side of life ... "
Monty Python's The Life of Brian

What, you thought we'd start this edition of Baseball's Hall of Names with lyrics from "Brian's Song" -- well, um, it's an instrumental, so that ain't happenin'. And frankly -- wait, wrong name there -- the name "Brian" has not been attached to a long list of big leaguers in general, much less a whole host of baseball greats (Jordan and Giles are probably "Best in Show" for this appellation).

But let's see what we can come up with as, yes, we will give this team the name you'd expect; it's time to meet ...

Jays 2, Angels 1 as "Catalanotto solves puzzle of Escobar".

Auburn and Dunedin both received superb work from their starters, but all three farm affiliates lost in playoff action.

Six in a row for LA of A.

The Dunedin hometown faithful had their hearts broken in the ninth inning.

The Jays have been really good at drawing teams that are on big winning streaks. The Angels of Anaheim are no exception; they just swept Baltimore, and their pitching staff is on fire.

For the first time in a while, the Jays have an opportunity to play spoiler. If that's not enough to get you to watch, perhaps Sunday's pitching matchup is.

On to the Advance Scout!

Both Lansing and Dunedin advanced to the next round of their playoffs with exciting one-run wins. Dunedin swept Fort Myers in extra innings, while Lansing got out to a lead and refused to relinquish it.