The Oakland Athletics and the Toronto Blue Jays meet Saturday in MLB action from Rogers Centre. This will be the second installment in a three-game weekend series. In the Friday game one Toronto eked out a huge comeback victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Oakland played the Tigers this week, losing Wednesday but otherwise taking wins in the remaining two games. In the Friday opener versus the Jays, the A’s had a comfortable late lead until they gave up six runs in the eighth on the way to an 11-10 loss. Sean Manaea posted 7.0 innings with two earned on five hits.
For the starting pitcher job in the Saturday game, the A’s will send out Paul Blackburn. Over his three starts so far Blackburn has an 0-1 record, a 2.81 ERA and nine strikeouts in 16.0 innings.
Over on the Jays’ side, they fell to the Orioles 4-2 on Tuesday but won the other two games in that series. In the Friday matchup, Toronto was down 8-2 at one point but they were able to trigger the dramatic comeback. Alek Manoah had a bad night on six earned, five hits and three walks in 5.0 innings.
For the starter job in the Saturday game, the Blue Jays will go with Jose Berrios. This year Berrios is 9-7 with a 3.53 ERA and 162 Ks.
The A’s are 0-5 in their last five in game two of a series and 3-7 in their last 10 on the road versus a team with a winning record. The over is 4-1-1 in the A’s last six in game two of a series and 9-3 in their last 12 Saturday games.
Meanwhile, the Blue Jays are 10-3 in their last 13 Saturday games and 19-9 in their last 28 in game two of a series. The under is 4-0 in Toronto’s last four in game two of a series and 20-5-1 in the last 26 on turf.
PICK: I’m going to try the A’s in this one. Blackburn has gotten progressively better over his three games this year, from three earned versus the White Sox to two earned versus the Mariners to zero earned against the Yankees. In that start versus New York his last time up, Blackburn had five hits and one walk in 5.0 innings. If he can keep it up and come near a quality start, I like Oakland to put together a victory here.