This is the third and last batch of photographs from my trip to Washington, D.C. ...

Stomping the Devil Rays 12-3 is a little like enjoying a super-nice sunny afternoon in early July. It feels great, it's just what you want -- but it's also not an iota less than what you had fully expected. This is why no team really feels great after beating Tampa -- this franchise is so bad that its opponents' expectations of victory are exceedingly high. We'll return to the topic of high expectations later on in this report.

The pun was so nice, he used it twice.

Dustin returned to Double-A last night, the D-Jays At The Bat didn't help out Casey one bit, the Devil Rays' affiliates paid back Syracuse and Lansing for the 12-3 thrashing of the parent club and there was a little dispute involving the French. All told, a 2-4 night on the farm.

I bought a new hat.

Cleveland join the party.

It was Josh Towers versus Mark Hendrickson in a Tropicana Field matinee, and Towers made a run at history before allowing a hit in the 7th inning. That was way more interesting than a 12-3 game had any right to be. Russ Adams shows his power and the Jays win big.

We come from the land of the ice and snow
The midnight sun, where the hot springs flow
Hammer of the gods

This is the second of three supersized editions of Photo of the Day chronicling the Hank family's road trip to Washington D.C. ...

With the way the bullpens on the full-season teams were pitching, Dunedin was lucky they were rained out. Only the short-season teams picked up wins last night.

I remember Burley mentioning that he actually made notes during the game when he was writing the Game Report. What a novel idea! Why don't I try that?

I said you wouldn't want to miss this one. Scott Kazmir and Roy Halladay both pitched fine games, although neither were around when this thing was finally settled. The Jays broke through for a couple in the 11th for a 3-1 victory, taking advantage of an obviously flagging Doug Waechter working his fifth inning of relief.

Mrs. Hank, baby Theo and myself drove out to Washington D.C. over the weekend to visit family and check out two of the Jays vs. Nationals games at RFK.

They weren't always the New York Yankees. In fact, they didn't always play in New York.

So you understand less
as the pages turn

The Toronto Sun sports section? Maybe. But the lyric applies to these minor league updates in a way too: We can hazard an educated guess as to how a SkyChief might perform were he promoted to The Show next week, but by the time we get down to Pulaski virtually anyone on the roster could be the next Mike Piazza or the next Jeromie Spillman. The results last night: 3 wins and 2 losses, plenty offence but not a lot of pitching.

Magpie, 4:05 PM yesterday: "It's Bad Mojo to mock the Devil Rays just when the Jays are about to play a three game set with them. That sort of talk always comes back and bites you in the ass."

Myself, 6:45 PM yesterday: "...join in on the Nomo-bashing, or let the Jays do it for you."

Nomo, last night: Two runs over seven innings.

Okay. I get it.