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.

Athletics:  16  Blue Jays:  0

It was all A’s tonight in Toronto.  The A’s scored a season high 16 runs and have extended their winning streak to 7 games, which is also a season high for them.

The A’s scored their first run in the first inning when Yoenis Cespedes doubled in Jonny Gomes.  They then went on to score 8 more runs in the following inning, knocking Ricky Romero out of the game after only 1.1 innings.  They would score 8 runs total off of the left-hander, who also allowed 4 hits and 6 walks.

Lines of the Day:

• A.J. Griffin:  6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 SO.  Behind the offensive explosion tonight was Griffin’s gem.  He struck out a career high of 9 and threw 104 pitches, 67 for strikes.
• Coco Crisp: 6 AB, 3 H, 2 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI.  It was a good day for Crisp at the plate, who hit his 4th and 5th home runs tonight.
• Yoenis Cespedes:  4 AB, 2 H, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI.  Cespedes now has a .302/.361/.533 slash line with an .894 OPS on the season with 15 2B.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Jemile Weeks: 4 AB, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 R.  It’s hard to pick an “ugly” line of the day since everyone contributed, but Weeks was the only player in the starting line up tonight to not collect a hit.  He did however, take a walk after seeing an 11 pitch at bat and eventually scored on a Gomes single.

A’s Extras:

• Derek Norris started tonight for the second day in a row, he went 2-4 with a double, 2 runs, 1 RBI and 1 walk.
• Jonny Gomes started in left field tonight, he went 2-3 with with 2 walks, 2 runs and 1 RBI.
• Chris Carter hit his 6th home run of the season tonight, he was 1-3 with 2 walks (including a bases loaded RBI), 2 runs and 3 RBI.
• Brandon McCarthy threw a 42-pitch simulated game today and according to Bob Melvin, everything went fine.  There is still no time table for her return.

The A’s are back home, but that doesn’t get any easier for them.  Tomorrow the A’s will start a short 2-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays (16-13), who are 6-4 in their 10 games and who rank 7th in runs scored in the league.

Tuesday 7:05 PM PST: (LHP) Ricky Romero (4-0) Vs (RHP) Brandon McCarthy (2-3)

• Despite allowing 5 ER in 8 innings in his last start, Ricky Romero was credited with his 4th win of the season which came against the Texas Rangers.  He also allowed 6 hits, walked 3 and struck out 6.  In his first 6 games of the season he has not taken a loss.
• In his last start Brandon McCarthy lasted 6.2 innings against the Boston Red Sox, he only allowed 1 ER, allowed 5 hits, 3 walks and struck out 4.

Wednesday 12:35 PM PST: (RHP) Brandon Morrow (3-1) Vs (RHP) Jarrod Parker (1-0)

• Northern California native, Brandon Morrow, was stellar in his last start against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Over 9 shut out innings, he only allowed 3 hits, struck out 8 and walked none.  Morrow has only walked 1 batter in his last 3 games.
• Jarrod Parker collected his first major league win in his last start against the Boston Red Sox.  He pitched 6.2 innings, allowed 4 hits, 1 ER, walked 2 and struck out 4.

Keys to Success: 

Not to state the obvious here, but the A’s are going to have to pitch well and they are going to have to score runs to beat this team.  The problem with facing a team like the Jays is they have both the pitching and the hitting that it takes to wins games.   There’s little room for error in this series, but the A’s find ways to win and I am hoping at least for a split.