The A's held on in Thursday’s opener of their series against the Jays. Today's rematch has A's righty Daniel Straily slated against Toronto lefty Brett Cecil. The set continues Saturday afternoon with Blue Jays southpaw Ricky Romero slated to face Oakland righty A.J. Griffin.
Saturday – 4:05 p.m. (ET): A.J. Griffin (3-0, 2.51 ERA) vs Ricky Romero (8-8, 5.69 ERA)
Griffin saw a three-win streak end with a no-decision in Monday’s 4-3 victory for Oakland against the Tampa Bay Rays, cashing as a 117 home dog. The rookie allowed three runs on five hits, while logging six strikeouts over seven innings.
Romero picked up a seventh straight loss in Toronto’s 4-1 setback against the Seattle Mariners on Monday night, dropping the matchup as a minus 103 road choice. The 27-year-old gave up three earned runs over six innings, while allowing eight hits and two walks.
Griffin shut down the Blue Jays in Toronto on July 25, giving up three hits over six innings in a 16-0 spanking for Oakland. Romero found himself on the other end of the blitz, lit up for eight runs in just 1 1/3 frames.
Romero’s last two road starts in Oakland saw the hurler toss tighter affairs, giving up two runs over a combined 15 IP. Look for another stingier outing here, continuing to recover from last month’s loose stretch, and uniting with another solid effort from Griffin to give UNDER backers the money.
Pick: UNDER
Friday – 10:05 p.m. (ET): Daniel Straily (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Brett Cecil (2-4, 5.56 ERA)
Straily gets the call up here from Triple-A’s Sacramento River Cats, where the California native has notched a 5-2 mark with a 1.36 ERA in eight starts. The rookie’s latest outing came in last Saturday’s 13-4 road win for Sacramento against the Reno Aces, allowing three runs over six innings.
Cecil logged a third straight loss in Sunday’s 4-1 defeat for Toronto as a 127 home dog against the Detroit Tigers. The 26-year-old gave up three runs in 6 2/3 innings, surrendering a homer to Detroit’s Jhonny Peralta as part of four hits allowed.
Cecil’s last three starts against Oakland have seen the fourth-year hurler hold his own, allowing a combined seven runs over 20 IP. The span’s sole road outing came in a tight duel last August, giving up just four hits in a 2-0 setback for Toronto.
Thursday’s opener moved the UNDER to 5-1-1 in the last seven meetings between these squads in Oakland, while lifting to a sizable 13-4 in the Athletics’ last 17 home dates. Oakland’s lineup has hit just .222 against left-handed pitching in its home jerseys, with a sparse .287 OBP.
Look for the Athletics to have their challenges against Cecil here, while Straily lets his solid year from the minors carry into UNDER tickets cashing as part of his MLB debut.
Pick: UNDER