Tonight is the first of the final four games before the trading deadline, and the big (radar) guns are in the house. Scouts from both the Rockies and Mariners are here, which may ring a few bells to those who follow the scuttlebutt.

That said, there are obviously other things going on around the team, notably:

- Mark Newman, Nardi Contreras and Julio Mosquera are in the house

- Outfielder DeAngelo Mack is back from the disabled list, where he's been since July 10 with a sore hand.

- Grant Duff's season is over. He'll begin the rehab process down in Tampa shortly, Tony Franklin said, which leads me to believe he had some sort of surgery. Franklin wouldn't tell us.

- Graham Stoneburner, who's been out since April, is scheduled to start on Friday. He was in the clubhouse before the game, and had ticket requests in, so he's feeling better, obviously.

- Franklin said before the game that Romine was "not playing" for the two consecutive games was based on the stress incurred from the sweltering heat in Bowie.

- There is a 75 percent chance of thunderstorms around 8 p.m. tonight

- Kei Igawa was returned from Scranton and is active this evening. Grant Duff, who had been struggling of late, was placed on the 7-Day Disabled List with a shoulder injury. That keeps the roster at 22 players.

That it wasn't the elbow, on which he had surgery late last season, is a surprise and a bit of a concern. If this is a new injury, it could mean real trouble for the tall righty. He was running in the stands before the game, so that's a good sign.

- Cody Johnson, after two days away with the flu, is back in the lineup.

- Talked to Jose Pirela (through professional interpreter Dellin Betances) before the game about the adjustments he's made to get on his recent hot streak. You should see something in Saturday's paper about what's led him to this point.

- After tonight, the Thunder's next six games are against Binghamton and Portland, which are a combined 42-83. Then they play New Britain, which is 34-29.

Per a team report, reliever Grant Duff, who got roughed up his last time out, is heading to the disabled list with an undisclosed injury. So far, the closer is 1-4 with a 2.84 ERA over 31 2/3 innings of work. He's struck out 38 against 16 walks and allowed four longballs.

Replacing him on the roster is J.B. Cox, a former prospect who's fallen on hard times and nearly retired in the middle of last season. He's 0-1 with an 8.59 ERA so far in Tampa. He's allowed 14 hits and two walks in 7 1/3 innings.

Yesterday, while I was watching the Pirates beat Roy Halladay, Grant Duff got promoted to Scranton. To take his place on the Thunder roster, Josh Schmidt was transferred back to Trenton.

This means the Thunder have lost their closer, and have gained a long reliever to go with Ryan Pope. Based on the way Tony Franklin used his pen last night, it seems like Wilkins Arias might be the guy to step into Duff's role.

Of course, Tony really never likes to designate anyone for a specific role, so it might be closer by committee for a while.

Today, after a spate of poor starts, Jeremy Bleich was placed on the disabled list and sent back to Florida yesterday. There is no word on Bleich's injury.

To take Bleich's spot, Paul Bush, a member of the Thunder staff last year, was activated off the DL. He is in New Hampshire with the team, and will be available tonight.

Interesting note: Both Bush and Pope will work out of the bullpen. There's no word on a fifth starter, says Thunder broadcaster Justin Shackil. Also from Shackil, Wilkin De La Rosa and Cory Arbiso will start in games 1 and 2

Pictures are as follows: Top Row - Jeremy Bleich, David Phelps. Second Row - Tommy Phelps and Cory Arbiso; Jesus Montero and Eduardo Nunez. Third Row - Ryan Pope, Grant Duff.

RESULT: Akron 2, Thunder 1
Monday: Akron 4, Thunder 2
Tuesday: Akron 5, Thunder 1
Wednesday: Thunder 4, Akron 3

Key to the Series: Timely hitting. Except for Wednesday's game, the Thunder just couldn't come up in the clutch. The team was just 1-for-21 with runners in scoring position, the lone knock being Austin Krum's two-run single that gave the Thunder the eventual win in the series finale.

Honorable Mention: David Adams extended his hitting streak to seven games. Overall, Adams is hitting .481 (12-for-25) this season

Notes: Grant Duff has appeared in five of the seven games so far. ... The Thunder have just three home runs (Luis Nunez, David Adams and Damon Sublett) but have allowed only one (Beau Mills)

Riding a smart play from Reid Gorecki, a bomb from Damon Sublett and a timely hit from Austin Krum, the Thunder came back and topped the Akron Aeros yesterday, 4-3. The win puts Trenton at a neat 5-2 heading to Portland, instead of 4-3.

Grant Duff appeared in his fifth game of the season and picked up his second save. This feature talks about just how at ease Duff feels as a reliever compared to his starting days, when he says he felt uncomfortable.

The Thunder take on Kyle Weiland and the Sea Dogs tonight at Hadlock Field before getting the meat of Portland's rotation (Casey Kelly, Stephen Fife and Felix Doubront for the rest of the series)

Good morning, everybody.

After a long night of sleep after a long day of travel back from Tampa (someone should have told me before I got up at 3:15 that the Tampa Airport gates don't open until 4:30), it's back to work.

Today's main goal will be acquiring and posting the roster. I know it's out there, it's just a matter of pestering the right sources long enough. This, fair readers, is what I will do for you.

Like I said on Saturday night, after confirming about two thirds of the roster, I expect the rest of the team to shake down this way:

C - Jose Gil
1B - Kevin Smith
SS - Walter Ibarra
IF - Luis Nunez
RP - Pat Venditte
RP - Grant Duff
RP - Phil Bartleski
RP - Adam Olbrychowski

That said, it wouldn't surprise me if Nunez or Ibarra were replaced by Marcos Vechionacci, or two of the relievers were replaced by Wilkins Arias and Noel Castillo, especially considering both of them spent the entire camp with the Double-A work group.

Until the roster comes out, however, here's a few more pics from the trip to tide you over (I took 524 pics down there, according to my camera). Clockwise from top, Ramiro Pena signing autographs, Andy Pettitte lounging in the bullpen, Justin Snyder talking things over with Jody Reed, and Tony Franklin throwing BP.