Overview
The Oakland Athletics look to avoid the three game sweep today in Toronto when they take on the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays won the first two games of the series fairly easily outscoring the Athletics 14-5. The Blue Jays have played the Athletics well this season winning 4 of the 5 meetings including both meetings so far in Toronto.
Head to Head Trends
Athletics are 0-5 in the last 5 meetings in Toronto.
Athletics are 1-4 in the last 5 meetings.
Toronto Blue Jays (-143)
The Toronto Blue Jays are now 1st in the American League East a half game up on the New York Yankees. It was just a couple weeks ago at the trade deadline the Jays were 8.5 games behind the Yankees but after wining 13 of their last 14 games including the last 10 in a row they have not only closed the gap but overtook the Yankees in a very short amount of time.
Over this current 10 game win streak the Blue Jays are obviously hitting the ball well averaging 5.50 runs per game although that’s pretty close to their season average anyway. The main reason for this great play is their pitching staff who have been one of the best in baseball since the all-start break. Over their last 10 games the Blue Jays starters have a 1.88 ERA and their bullpen who were pretty bad especially early in the season they have just a 0.75 ERA over the last 10 games.
On the hill for the Blue Jays today is lefty Mark Buehrle who is 12-5 with a 3.34 ERA on the season. Buehrle had a fairly slow start to the season but he has pitched great since the beginning of June not allowing more then 3 earned runs in start in his last 12 starts.
Toronto Blue Jays Trends
Blue Jays are 13-1 in their last 14 overall.
Blue Jays are 23-8 in Buehrles last 31 starts vs. a team with a losing record.
Oakland Athletics (+133)
The Oakland Athletics are last in the American League West 11 games out of 1st place. The Athletics had a hot streak back in the middle of June when all their hitters got hot at the same time but apart from that they haven’t really done a whole lot.
Starting for the Athletics in this one is Jesse Chavez who is filling in for Sonny Grey who is a late scratch due to back spasms. Chavez is 6-11 with a 3.73 ERA on the season. Chavez had a decent start to the season but he’s been pretty bad over the last couple months with a 5.78 ERA over his last 9 starts.
Oakland Athletics Trends
Athletics are 1-10 in Chavezs last 11 starts as an underdog.
Athletics are 15-37 in their last 52 games vs. a left-handed starter.
Conclusion
I’m going with the Blue Jays over the Athletics again today. The Blue Jays are just playing great ball at the moment their starters are pitching well, their bats are crushing the ball like they’ve been doing all season and their revamped bullpen has been lights out of late so the way they’re playing right now they’re almost unbeatable.
Free Pick: Toronto Blue Jays -143
