Had 'em all the way...

The Blue Jays match their 2004 win total and get back to .500.

And if I had told you in April that Scott Downs would strike out more hitters in a game than any other Toronto pitcher, you'd have beaten me senseless.

After blowing sizeable leads on three consecutive evenings, Tampa Bay tries to do what it does best: Annoy the Jays and their fans.

Toronto's had a slightly easier time playing the D-Rays this season as opposed to other recent years, but the post-break series in which Tampa snagged three of four was crippling to the Blue Jays. T-Bay has actually been a very competitive club over the second half of the season, as they've been swinging hot bats and getting serviceable pitching. This should be an interesting series, with all three Jays hurlers throwing the ball quite well of late.

This week's Scout features a couple of old friends, a couple of new faces and a player who is the best in baseball history at his position -- seriously! -- according to at least one statistic. Stay tuned on Monday as Thomas clears the Ayers in a pinch-hit Orioles Advance Scout. And read on for another Trivia Challenge!

On to the Advance Scout!

Sorry about the delay -- photo of the day fell victim to a power outage at the Hank Homestead.

Here's Eric Hinske, keeping Julio Lugo honest at first base:

The future's uncertain
and the end is always near

Auburn swept a doubleheader to almost guarantee a playoff spot. Dunedin also won to keep them on place for the playoffs. New Hampshire lost to all but seal their tickets out of town for Tuesday, Syracuse, and Jason Arnold, lost late while Lansing won. Robert Ray was unable to reprise his no-hitter and had to settle for five shutout innings. Cory Patton hit a pair of homers and Davis Romero won again

Jay Gibbons and B.J. Surhoff hit 6th inning homers off Dustin McGowan to bring the Orioles back from a 3-1 deficit. Dustin threw a heavy ball, and rarely gave up the long-ball, in the minor leagues prior to his Tommy John surgery. It often takes 2-3 years for pitchers to return to their pre-surgery level of effectiveness; perhaps Dustin's struggles in the big leagues are a part of the usual recovery process.

The west is the best
The west is the best
Get here, and we'll do the rest

I won't go into the long and tedious details, but I've spent some time thinking about game show hosts recently -- and that naturally led to a Hall of Names take on the topic.

That's right, a team made up entirely of players who share their last/family name with renowned game show hosts such as Len "Bob" Barker, Andre "Richard" Dawson and Blake "Ben" Stein.

As with any game show, of course, a loud nasty buzzing sound will occur ...

The Jays drop it 5-3 to fall below .500 for the first time since July 19.

Comes out of the Virginia swamps
Cool and slow with plenty of precision
With a back beat narrow and hard to master

Here's Russ Adams, eagerly awaiting his turn in the batter's box:

Sadly, there's very little that most of us can do. But I recommend that rather than do nothing, you can make a donation to the American Red Cross as I did. (Please be patient; the link may take some time to load because they are very busy). They are on the ground directly helping victims and are best able to bring their resources to bear on the problem.

Other suggestions are most welcome.

Whether the results be nameless or scoreless, only a few games were played last night on the farm. Ted Lilly pitched well, and I have some trivia questions for you all...

UPDATE: This has now transformed into a Trivia Challenge thread. We don't need no stinkin' minor leagues.

The Jays were blanked by a team whose momentum should carry it down to the Morlocks before the season ends, so instead of talking about the game, I'm going to talk about the Internet's history.

Since 1979, each September brought with it an influx of new users to the Internet. Especially prior to 1995, when the National Science Foundation opened the Internet to commercial use, students usually first gained access when they went away to university; the Internet, after all, was primarily an academic endeavour.

Tim Berners-Lee first publicized his World Wide Web project in 1991, changing the way the public would view the Internet forever. Before then, it was seen as what it really is: a medium for many services, including Usenet.

So we've seen the Chacin-Chen matchup; as recently as August 25, there was the legendary Chacin-Chacon matchup. But what are the Chances of working mid-1970s OF Charlie Chant, who is one of the few double-"Ch"s in big league history, into the discussion?

Incidentally, in a nice bit of symmetry, after five AB with the '75 A's, Chant was traded to the Cardinals for another double-initial guy, IF Larry Lintz, who once stole 50 bases in a season (1974 to be exact) for the Expos.

Alas, Choo Choo Coleman, does not qualify for this squad, as we are only considering last/family names ...