The Toronto Blue Jays’ potent offense will face a stiff test against the Oakland Athletics and lefty Scott Kazmir when the clubs finish off a three-game set with Thursday’s matinee. Kazmir has a nifty 1.08 ERA over his last six starts at O.co Coliseum with the A’s cashing the under each time.
ODDS ANALYSIS
Toronto’s Drew Hutchison is one lucky dude. It’s not often you see a pitcher with a 5.19 ERA have a winning percentage of .818, but that’s exactly what Hutchison has done. The Blue Jays’ Opening Day starter is 9-2 despite his lofty ERA thanks to some generous run support from the major leagues’ top run producing team. The Jays average 5.3 runs following Tuesday’s 7-1 win and that number goes up a run and a half in games Hutchison starts. The Jays have scored 130 runs in his 19 starts. Toronto has managed to split Hutchison’s 10 road starts despite an even worse 8.81 ERA and the over is 9-0 in his last nine starts away from Rogers Centre. Oakland is the least profitable AL team and their troubles can be traced to a 20-28 home mark. The A’s are in the red 17.23 units at O.co Coliseum and 17.85 units overall.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Drew Hutchison (9-2, 5.19 ERA) will look to finally put an end to all of the talk about his struggles on the road when the Blue Jays visit Oakland. He had a solid outing Friday, allowing just two runs on five hits across six innings in a home win over the Rays, lowering his ERA to 2.21 at Rogers Centre. It’s been a different story on the road, however, where Hutchison sports an 8.81 ERA and 1.98 WHIP over 47 innings.
Hutchison surrendered eight hits and three runs in 5.2 innings taking the loss at Oakland on July 6, 2014 in his only appearance against the Athletics.
Scott Kazmir (5-5, 2.38 ERA) is fresh off a dominant performance where he carried a shutout into the ninth and yielded one run on five hits in 8.1 innings in a no-decision Saturday. The lefty has given up just one run total in his last three starts and hasn’t lost during that span. He’s allowed two or fewer runs in eight of his 10 home starts and is 4-2 with a 1.36 ERA and 0.91 WHIP at O.co Coliseum.
Kazmir has started 17 games against the Jays going 5-6 with a 3.63 ERA over 104 innings against them.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“I have my teammates doing their thing, which made it easier for me. They’re dangerous and they’re just good hitters. You look at our lineup and you go one through nine and you go, ‘where’s the out at.’” – Blue Jays’ Josh Donaldson after his first game back in Oakland.
LIVE BETTING or SITUATIONAL BETTING
In an effort to strengthen what has been a weakness much of the season, the Toronto Blue Jays will move former starter Aaron Sanchez to the bullpen. They also signed former Tigers and Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain to a minor league deal. Sanchez could join the team Thursday if his rehab outing goes well. Sanchez did well as a reliever in the second half last season and he was in line for the closers role before injuries necessitated his move to the rotation. Roberto Osuna is the current closer after several others failed in that role and Bo Schultz has been good, but there is a drop off after that. Though the group has a 3.57 ERA, they’ve lost 17 games and allowed 31 home runs while collecting a MLB-low 14 saves. More troubling is the 15 blown saves, making Toronto the only club with more blown chances than saves.
PROP TALK
Oakland’s Billy Burns is a scrappy player that will give Drew Hutchison fits. Burns leads the A’s with a .305 average and had a couple hits in the series opener. His speed makes him tough to defend and when he gets on base he can swipe a bag. Hutchison allows opponents to hit .292 overall and .372 when he’s on the road, so you can bet he won’t throw a no-hitter. Burns will get a few hits and score from his leadoff spot against the Jays’ righty.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
A’s starter Scott Kazmir enhanced his trade value with a sparkling effort last time out, shutting down the Twins for eight innings before the bullpen failed him. The Blue Jays are not the Twins, and remember Kazmir isn’t Cy Young. He’s never had a full season with an ERA below 3.00 and he’s had to be spectacular this season to get that career number below 4.00. It’s hard to explain Drew Hutchison’s splits. He’s been real good at home but absolutely horrible on the road. If he finds some middle ground his mates will score enough runs to get the victory.
Toronto 5, Oakland 4
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