The Hillcats’ series finale with the Keys was rained out Sunday. The teams will make up the game as part of a doubleheader in Frederick next weekend.

A quick scan of Frederick’s roster reveals a who’s who of Baltimore’s top minor league prospects, with six of the Orioles’ top 10 currently wearing a Keys uniform.

You look at the confident swing, the free-flowing swoop from the left side that’s produced more home runs than any Hillcat this year, and you think to yourself that Steve Lerud must have done some major offseason tinkering with his mechanics.

There are plenty of people — mostly Orioles fans — who wouldn’t mind seeing Frederick catcher and prized prospect Matt Wieters make a quick ascent through Baltimore’s minor league system.

Pirates fans probably waited with great anticipation — or dread, depending on their level of pessimism — for Thursday’s game between the Hillcats and Keys.

After three at bats Wednesday, Brian Friday had a single, a double and a triple on his résumé. All that remained for the cycle was a home run, the most difficult leg for the Hillcats shortstop, who has just three long balls in his brief minor league career.

You would think 21-year-old Aaron Poreda would shy away from the attention and pressure that burdens him as the White Sox’ first-round pick in last year’s draft and their top organizational prospect.

For much of April, the Hillcats’ bullpen was a steadying force.

A stiff breeze was blowing out of the ballpark Saturday night, turning City Stadium into a launching pad, even for a Lynchburg team not known for its home run prowess.

Three years of pain and discomfort finally became too much for Jamie Romak in the Hawaiian Winter League last offseason.

Every pitcher goes through rough patches. They just don’t always get noticed.

Blair Johnson’s discussions with Hillcats pitching coach Bob Milacki have been curt and to the point recently. Despite entering Thursday night’s game with Kinston at City Stadium with a more-than-respectable 2.81 ERA, Johnson wasn’t happy with his last few outings.

Tommy Hanson had the hype, and rightfully so. The Myrtle Beach right-hander had made mincemeat of the Carolina League in his first five starts, giving up one earned run in 29 innings and striking out 38.

The Hillcats were a small ball model in the early innings against Myrtle Beach on Tuesday. They bunted runners up, swiped a base when it was there and, despite leaving a mess of runners in scoring position, got enough hits to produce a bunch of runs.

Myrtle Beach reliever Kevin Gunderson and Lynchburg’s Steve Lerud have a largely one-sided history, one that dates back two years to the Low-A South Atlantic League and is heavily skewed in the lefty closer’s favor.

You’re from Buffalo. What’s the best thing about the city?

The clock approached 7 a.m. one winter morning two years ago as Tony Mansolino prepped to substitute teach another class, a nice way to make some money during baseball’s offseason, despite the early — and very un-baseball-like — hours.

Salem used a pair of hits from Koby Clemens to sink Lynchburg Sunday afternoon 3-0 at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.

Offensively, this season could be a struggle for the Hillcats. Their roster doesn’t include the thumpers it had last year, home-run types able to alter a game’s outcome with a single swing.

Two nights ago, when the Hillcats summoned middle infielder Greg Picart to pitch the final inning of a game, it was a quirky footnote that had no bearing on what turned out to be a six-run loss.

The Pirates’ new upper brass has a rule, one from which they won’t waver: If a pitcher throws more than 30 pitches in an inning, he’s won’t come out for another. End of discussion.

Things went about as well Sunday for the Hillcats as they possibly could as Lynchburg drubbed Wilmington 14-2 at City Stadium.

It was a classic case of putting quality ahead quantity. No, the Hillcats didn’t rip the cover off the ball Saturday evening at City Stadium. Of their nine hits in a 6-3 win over Wilmington, only two went for extra bases.

Brian Friday offers a plausible explanation for the Hillcats’ early-season hitting troubles.

The record belied the talent. It was April of 1983 and the Lynchburg Mets, the first — and arguably greatest — minor league team the Mets machine of the early-’80s rolled off the assembly line and into this city, inauspiciously stumbled out of the blocks.

Lynchburg picked up its first win of the 2008 season Sunday as Hillcats starter Michael Crotta was nearly perfect through almost seven innings and the offense exploded for nine runs against Frederick in a 9-3 victory.

The power hitters? They’re gone. Steve Pearce, Jason Delaney and Brad Corley have all moved up in the Pirates’ system.

If the word “bonds” slips out around a baseball diamond, at best, you will likely get a few aggravated moans, thanks to the recent scandal involving one the game’s biggest stars — Barry Bonds. But at its best, at its heart, the game of baseball has and will be about the social bonds developed on the diamond that can span lifetimes. A perfect example is a group of six friends who starred in the Seminole District at the turn of the century.