The A’s will face off against the Toronto Blue Jays (51-52) again, this time at home for a 4-game series.  The last time the two faced off, about a week ago, the A’s took 2 out of 3 from them.

Thursday 7:05 PM PST: (RHP) Henderson Alvarez (7-7) Vs (RHP) Bartolo Colon (7-8)

• Henderson Alvarez did very well in his last start against the Detroit Tigers, lasting 7 innings and only allowing 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4.  Alvarez has 2 career starts against the A’s and has a 0-1 record with a 3.09 ERA over 11.2 innings with 7 strikeouts.
• Bartolo Colon’s last outing was against the Baltimore Orioles, he only lasted 5.1 innings, allowed 7 hits, but no runs while walking 1 and striking out 5.  Colon has yet to face the Blue Jays this season, but has a career 4-5 record against them with a 4.35 ERA and 124 strikeouts over 147 innings (23 starts).

Friday 7:05 PM PST: (LHP) Brett Cecil (2-4) Vs (LHP) Travis Blackley (3-3)

• Brett Cecil lasted 6.2 innings in his last start against the Detroit Tigers, he allowed 4 hits, 3 runs, walked 4 and struck out 7.  Cecil has faced the A’s once this season, lasting 6 innings and only allowing 2 runs on 7 hits, walking 2 and striking out 8.
• Travis Blackley was shakey in his last start against the Baltimore Orioles, allowing 5 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks while striking out 1 over 5 innings.  Blackley has faced the Blue Jays once this season, he allowed 5 hits, 1 run, walked 1 and struck out 8 over 7 innings of work.

Saturday 1:05 PM PST: (LHP) Ricky Romero (8-8) Vs (RHP) A.J. Griffin (3-0)

• In his last start against the Seattle Mariners, Ricky Romero allowed 8 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), walked 2 and struck out 7 over 6 innings of work.  Romero faced the A’s the last time the 2 teams met, allowing 8 runs on 4 hits and while walking 6 and striking out 1 over 1.1 innings.
• Having lasted 7 innings in his last outing against the Tampa Bay Rays, A.J. Griffin is coming off of his longest outing of the season so far.  He allowed 5 hits, 3 runs, walked 2 and struck out 6.  Griffin faced the Blue Jays once this season and allowed 3 hits, no runs, walked 2 and struck out 6 over 7 innings.

Sunday 1:05 PM PST: (LHP) Aaron Laffey (2-2) Vs (LHP) Tom Milone (9-8)

• Aaron Laffey was rocked by the Seattle Mariners in his last start, allowing 9 hits, 7 runs, 2 walks and striking out none over 4.2 innings of work.  Laffey has faced the A’s once this season, allowing 5 hits, 4 runs, walking 3 and striking out 3 over 5.2 innings.
• Despite dominating at home, Tom Milone had a very poor outing against the Tampa Bay Rays in his last start.  He lasted 6 innings, allowed 7 hits, 5 runs, walked 1 and struck out 4.  Milone’s one start against the Jays was not great either, lasting 7 innings, but allowing 8 hits, 6 runs (5 earned), walking none and striking out 7.

Keys to Success:

After their last series against the Tampa Bay Rays, I think the obvious answer would be start hitting and scoring runs.  The A’s really struggled in the offensive department in their 4 previous games so hopefully they can find their bats in this series.