On a warm summer's evenin' on a train bound for nowhere,
I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a starin' out the window at the darkness
'Til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak.

I'm not the same anymore
Thunder and spark in the Heart of the Dark

The Fisher Cats make it two straight. Shaun Marcum and Tom Mastny lose. Dunedin are toast and get to head out of town before Ivan moves in. New Hampshire and Charleston are the only clubs still playing.

The Jays made up 1.5 games on their "fierce" rivals last night, and now sit just two games in the loss column behind the floundering D-Rays.

There are a bunch of teams with similar records right now that will battle it out for the #4 to #10 draft picks in the 2005 Amateur Draft. Arizona, KC and Seattle seem to have the top three spots sewn up, leaving Toronto to battle the D-Rays, Expos, Mets, Rockies, Brewers, Reds and Pirates for draft order position.

In other news, the Indians are two games below .500; if that doesn't change it will cost me a pair of field-level Jays tickets.

Jerry Howarth has been broadcasting Blue Jays baseball for over two decades, forming one of the longest-lived partnerships in baseball broadcasting history with Tom Cheek. To several generations of Blue Jays fans they are known simply as "Tom and Jerry".

In Volume 1 of our Ask Jerry series, Mr. Howarth did not shy away from expressing opinions on the current state of the Blue Jays. I caught up with him a few weeks ago and was eager to find out what he thought of some of the newcomers to the team. I presented a selection of readers' questions from our Ask Jerry, Volume 2 thread and threw in a few of my own. Some questions were not addressed this time around; we'll try to get to them for Volume 3.

Please note: since the interview took place, Jason Frasor has lost the closer role and Vinnie Chulk has struggled mightily.

I have started an "NFL Survivor" football pool for Batter's Box over at Yahoo! Sports. The rules are very simple... pick one team per week and if your team wins, you move on to the next week's

We are going to start with Week 2, which is *next* week. Many bragging rights are at stake - so do join us. Go to Yahoo Survival Football, sign up, and choose "Join Existing Group". The Group ID number is 30077 and the password is cuttlefish.

Toronto takes on a struggling and desperate Ranger squad now on the fringe of the AL West division race. Texas won ten games in a stretch of fourteen in August; meanwhile, Oakland, Anaheim and Boston each won thirteen of fourteen. Losing three games in the standings while playing .714 ball seems to have sucked some energy out of the Rangers, as they have lost nine of the last eleven. The Jays have the opportunity to drive a few more nails into the Ranger coffin before Texas finishes the season with twenty straight against division rivals.

On to the Advance Scout!

New Hampshire won a thrilling pitcher's duel, while Dunedin was swamped by those damn Tampa Yankees in playoff openers. Charleston's opener was postponed due to rain.

To keep her bill collectors at bay
I guess all his money, well it isn't enough
Cause that girl's got expensive taste

Reader Charles Simon has contributed to our flourishing collection of book reviews with his take on a baseball classic. Thanks Charles!

I have to leave soon, so please forgive the early appearance of this game thread.

Since his masterful effort against the Red Sox, Ted Lilly has had two sub-par performances. Command of his curve ball has been lacking, leaving him to rely on changing speeds. I like his chances today, especially if the Angels continue to swing away.

Toronto's remaining schedule (after tonight): at Texas (3), Baltimore (7), Tampa Bay (6), Yankees (6)

Tampa Bay's remaining schedule: Kansas City (6), Boston (6), Toronto (6), Detroit (5)

The Rays are losing 7-1 to the Yankees. If they do not rally, the Jays will be 2 games behind them for 4th place before they take the field tonight.

Charleston and New Hampshire had the day off, Frances made Dunedin wait another day and the Doubledays made another early exit.

And never mind that noise you heard
It’s just the beast under your bed,
In your closet, in your head

Justin Miller hasn't thrown the ball well lately. The late and unpredictable movement of his fastball that was his trademark seems to have deserted him. His control hasn't improved to compensate, and that has meant lots of hard-hit baseballs. If we don't see the old Miller soon, a move to long relief might be in the cards.

Facing the Jays today is one of Coach's favourite pitchers (not!) - Kelvim Escobar. As most of us know, the K man has some of the best stuff in the league. It's his composure and command of his breaking stuff that has been questioned. The key for any team facing Escobar is to swing only at balls in the hitting zone and get his pitch count up.

Possibly the biggest difference between the National Football League and Major League Baseball is the number of games a team plays in a season. An MLB team has 162 games on its regular season schedule while an NFL team plays 16; less than 1/10th of 162. A weak NFL team can often make the playoffs with a weak schedule and a couple of lucky breaks. This leads to the question: Can a weak team like the Blue Jays make the playoffs under an NFL-style schedule?