It's do-or-die time for the ornithologically inclined AL East rivals this weekend. Thanks largely to a visit from Tampa Bay, the Orioles have slowed their spiral into oblivion -- at least momentarily.

The O's have been suffering from some awful outings from their starting rotation and some prolonged slumps from their batting order. That's the good news for the Jays. The bad news is, this remains a club that can score runs in bunches -- and a club frankly due for some breaks. Read on for details.

This week's Scout features a season debut on Saturday, a left-on-base bonanza and a GM team that may shrink in size -- from two to zero -- unless the club continues to rebound. Oh yeah, and some guy named Palmeiro should be playing first tonight.

On to the Advance Scout!

Look here. The calendar tells me that it's August, which means that it's 3 months until Rule 5 draft. It was a non-event last year, with the exception of Kansas City's selection of Andy Sisco, but who knows what this year holds.

He held the scary Detroit Tigers offense to one lonely run, and that earns Scott Downs photo of the day honors:

Everything looks nicer when you win. The girls are prettier. The cigars taste better. The trees are greener.
-- Billy Martin

I have a confession to make: I slept through most of this game. Thanks to the miracle of technology I am watching it right now, but let me relate to you my chronology:

The farm affiliates went 3-3 on the evening with a 9th inning Doubleday uprising being the highlight.

Jays win 2-1 on a first inning homer by Frank Catalanotto and an unexpectedly great pitching performance from Scott Downs.

In honor of his walk-off performance last night, here's Orlando Hudson watching the trajectory of one of his hits:

The best thing about baseball is that you can do something about yesterday tomorrow.
-- Manny Trillo

We have the Detroit manager's thoughts on the 4-3 win by the Blue Jays, but standing in for Alan Trammell today is a very special guest. Trammell's middle name is Stuart; this guy's middle name is (was) Stockton. That's all you need to know.

Bad night for the pitchers, as both starters and relievers conspired to give up the go-ahead runs in 4 out of 5 games played. Only Auburn escaped with a victory last night. There were some sterling starting performances ruined when a starter went back to the mound once too often or the relievers couldn't get the job done. Some nights, both sides of the coin come up tails.

if you've been paying attention to Baseball's Hall of Names since it started up back in March of 2003, it shouldn't surprise you to learn that we have teams entirely made up of players named Willie, Mickey and Duke -- and the latter team would be much stronger now that Pirate lefty Zach Duke [caution: hyperbole alert] has started down the path to Cooperstown to be with those other three guys mentioned earlier.

Of course, Willie (Mays), Mickey (Mantle) and Duke (Snider) are inextricably linked by their time together in the 1950s patrolling CF in New York for, respectively, the Giants, Yankees and Dodgers. The trio of Hall-of-Famers were further immortalized in the refrain to the catchiest of bubblegum baseball songs ever written, "Talkin' Baseball (Willie, Mickey and the Duke)" by Terry Cashman.

Ho hum, just another win.

Today's photograph is Frank Catalanotto peering into the dugout to read the signs. I've never paid attention to this aspect of a Jays game -- who's relaying the signs to the batter, is it Brantley? Is it Gibbons himself?

While we wait for someone to supply the answer, here's the picture:

Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand.
--Wes Westrum