Just looked at the radar, and it appears tonight’s Hillcats-Indians game at City Stadium will go off without a hitch. No rain in the forecast. The only storms appear to be in the greater Martinsville area, and they’re moving to the southeast. So that’s good. I can’t remember ever being around so much rain covering baseball. Two of every three Hillcats games seem to be delayed by the stuff.

Moving on, quick hitters only tonight. Carolina League power rankings will return Sunday, the final day of the first half of the regular season.

* First home start tonight for Hillcats right-handed pitcher Bryan Morris, one of the key pieces of the Jason Bay-Manny Ramirez three-way deal between Pittsburgh, Boston and the L.A. Dodgers last year. Morris missed the first two-plus months of the season dealing with shoulder impingement, and in two starts, he’s been fairly impressive. June 7 at Wilmington, he allowed six hits and four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, but all four came in the fifth inning, when he ran into some trouble. Last Saturday in Kinston, Morris was better, allowing two hits and an earned run in 5 1/3 innings. The fact that he avoided trouble and pitched deeper into the game were both encouraging signs. Morris has the potential to be one of the Hillcats’ best starters, especially if Matt McSwain gets the call to Double-A soon, which wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

* Weird stat: The Hillcats had seven RBI walks during their recent seven-game road trip.

* The Hillcats are 43-22 heading into tonight’s game and have a winning record against every team in the Carolina League save for one—Wilmington, which has beaten the Cats six out of 10 times.

* RHP Michael Dubee had been pretty much untouchable since he arrived in Lynchburg. He allowed a run Wednesday night in Myrtle Beach, breaking a string of 29 2/3 scoreless innings. He hadn’t allowed a run since April 21.

* Miles Durham playing first tonight for the Cats. Matt Hague has been out since Saturday, when he got hurt in a home-plate collision in Kinston.

* Check out tomorrow’s News & Advance for a look at how the Hillcats won the first-half title in the Carolina League north.