Now lightning strikes in old New York
It may be dark but I wanna talk

Hey, it worked yesterday. So here's Alex Rios sending some poor baseball on a long ride:

Shutouts galore and the quickest AA update ever.

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My father has an expression that he acquired growing up in Newfoundland, back when there was a fishing industry to speak of in those parts: “He’s got more guts than a five-cent fish.” It’s a statement made admiringly of someone who shows a lot of gumption; “the guts of a burglar,” they’d say in places presumably with more crime and fewer cod.

Dave Bush was under a lot of scrutiny tonight and faced a lot of pressure to stop a losing skid. He came through with flying colours, firing 6 shutout innings and striking out 7 Yankees in the Bronx. One monster Blue Jay inning did in the pinstripers tonight.

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

OK, so we need some hardcore, positive Photo of the Day mojo today. What better, then, than Vernon Wells positively killing a baseball?

The Jays took 4 of 4 contests last night. Lansing and Auburn had the night off for the all-star break. Quiroz incurs the wrath of the baseball gods and Miguel Negron makes his case to stay on the 40 man.

Maybe it is better to suffer from what one knew than to expose oneself to new suffering. – Emile Zola.

Strange as it may seem, Zola was no pessimist. Or at least I don't think he was a pessimist. Now, Blue Jays fans in the last few years: they have a right to be a bit pessimistic about their bullpen, though this year's version has been fairly reliable. So maybe pessimistic is too strong. Lugubrious? Nah, too bombastic. Wait, here's the word, especially after last night's misery: pissed.

This was, for the most part, a terrific game. It started out as a fine, tight pitcher's duel between Al Leiter and Josh Towers. The Jays took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 8th, but Schoeneweis and Speier let the Yankees tie it up. So the Jays took a 4-3 lead in the top of the 9th against Mariano Rivera himself, only to see Miguel Batista spit it right back up, as if he played for the 1978 Red Sox or something: a leadoff homer to Matsui, three bases on balls, and a game-winning hit by Felix Escalona.

Felix Friggin' Escalona? There are no words...

Two weeks remain in the regular season. Get out your Maalox.

I wasn't able to get an AL East report up this week due to illness, so I hope this suffices.

Unicorns and cannonballs, palaces and piers,
trumpets, towers and tenements
wide oceans full of tears
flags, rags, ferryboats, scimitars and scarves
every precious dream and vision underneath the stars

Gregg Zaun chucks a paper cup over his shoulder as he leaves the game, ejected for arguing a call at the plate during a game against Tampa Bay at the Rogers Centre:

What to discuss, what to discuss... Well, you cannot, by definition, have a positive discussion about the offense when the team does not score a run (and nobody has more than one hit), so that leaves the pitchers.

I have nothing against Pete Walker -- sources indicate he's great at ogling the Queen with Jeff Tam in unaired 2003 commercials -- but his ERA wasn't going to stay at 2.66 all year. (Nor will it stay at 3.12.) This wasn't a surprise. Scott "Schotime" Schoeneweis has a fun last name, but he faced just two batters. Vinnie Chulk didn't have three inherited runners to strand, so he was fairly unmemorable.

You have to love any Blue Jays game where the best part of it all was the losing pitcher. And he is the focus of today's Game Report. Sort of...