LYNX: J.J.'S AN ALL-STAR; ADVENTURES IN BASERUNNING

First things first: Lynx catcher Jason Jaramillo is headed to the July 11 Triple-A All-Star Game in Albuquerque, New Mexico. J.J.'s had a decent season, hitting .268/.346/.360 with 34 RBI, good numbers for a catcher in his first year at this level.

(Oddly enough, since noted the switch-hitting Jaramillo's struggles hitting right-handed vs. lefty pitchers, he's gone 7-of-10 from that side of the plate. His OPS lefty is 764, to a thin and watery 572 righty.)

Manager John Russell, as the reigning International League manager of the year, is also headed to Albuquerque and so is Toronto native Joey Votto, the Cincinatti Reds' top hitting prospect. Votto was in an early-season funk when his Louisville team visited Ottawa early in May, but he's now hitting .311/.415/.470. Not too shabby. It's hard to see him not being Cincy's Opening Day first baseman in 2008.

Anyways, the turning point in today's 5-2 Lynx loss (boxscore, play-by-play) to the Toledo Mud Hens probably came in the fifth inning when Carlos Leon was "caught stealing 2nd base, pitcher Ron Chiavacci to second baseman Kevin Hooper to first baseman Chris Shelton to shortstop Ramon Santiago." This happened with runners on the corners, nobody out and the top of the order coming up in a tie game.

It sounds like the ol' fake-third, throw-to-first gambit worked for Chiavacci (7-4), who scattered seven hits and no walks across seven innings. In their half of the fifth, the Mud Hens went ahead for good, scoring twice with three straight singles off Lynx righty Heath Totten (1-4), and the bleeding continued for our guys.

Highlights: Pedro Swann went 2-for-3, homering, driving in both runs and getting a ninth-inning hit off Aquilino Lopez which, once again, brought the tying run to bat. Anderson Garcia has now worked 12 2/3 scoreless innings. The Lynx are losing games, but there's no quit in them.

Charlie Weatherby III (1-1, 4.40) gets a spot start tomorrow vs. the 23-year-old lefty Jonathan Connolly, who's allowed just four hits and one earned run in 12 innings across his first two Triple-A starts.