Overview
The Toronto Blue Jays are in Oakland tonight for the fist game of a three game series with the Athletics. The Blue Jays have played the Athletics fairly well of late winning 6 of the last 7 meetings overall but they have struggled in Oakland losing 5 of the last 7 meetings.
Head to Head Trends
Blue Jays are 6-1 in the last 7 meetings.
Blue Jays are 2-5 in the last 7 meetings in Oakland.
Oakland Athletics (+110)
The Oakland Athletics are 4th in the American League West 13 games under .500 and 15.5 games out of 1st place. The Athletics were playing some decent baseball a couple weeks back but they have been pretty bad for the most part this season.
The Athletics don’t really do anything all that great. They are one of the lower scoring teams in the American League averaging just 4.11 runs per game and their pitching isn’t much better allowing 4.89 runs per game.
On the hill for the Athletics tonight is rookie Daniel Mengden who is 1-4 with a 4.54 ERA in 6 starts this season. Mengden actually pitched pretty good in his first 4 starts but he’s been hit hard in his last couple starts allowing 13 hits and 10 earned runs.
Oakland Athletics Trends
Athletics are 3-8 in their last 11 overall.
Athletics are 1-5 in Mengdens last 6 starts.
Toronto Blue Jays (-120)
The Toronto Blue Jays are 3rd in the American League East 11 games over .500 and just 2 games out of 1st place. The Blue Jays were probably the hottest team in baseball heading into the all-star break winning 8 of their last 9 games so hopefully the break didn’t take away all their momentum.
The Blue Jays have one of the best offenses in the league averaging 4.91 runs per game and they seem to be getting stronger at the season goes on. They also have a surprisingly good pitching staff allowing just 4.09 runs per game.
Starting for the Blue Jays in this one is Marcus Stroman who is 7-4 with a 4.89 ERA on the season. Stroman had a good start to the season but he had a stretch in May and June where he really struggled and was on the verge of getting sent down to the minors if he didn’t turn things around. Lucky for him he did turn it around and has put up a couple back to back strong outings.
Toronto Blue Jays Trends
Blue Jays are 8-1 in their last 9 overall.
Blue Jays are 8-3 in Stromans last 11 starts vs. a team with a losing record.
Conclusion
I like the Toronto Blue Jays over the Athletics in this one. The Blue Jays were red hot going into the all-star break so hopefully that continues but they are also just the much better team overall so I see them getting the win tonight.
Free Pick: Toronto Blue Jays -120
