Athletics vs Blue Jays Odds, Betting Lines, and Probable Pitchers (Sep. 4)

• The Toronto Blue Jays are home favorites over the Oakland Athletics Saturday, September 4th (3:07pm ET)
• The A’s send Paul Blackburn (0-1, 2.81) to the mound to face Jose Berrios (9-7, 3.53)
• The odds and pitching matchups can be found below with a prediction

The Toronto Blue Jays try to stay on the periphery of the American League Wild Card chase against the Oakland A’s at 3:07 pm ET Saturday in the second game of a three-game series at the Rogers Centre.

The Blue Jays have gone 18-14 since the beginning of August following Friday’s epic 11-10 comeback against their fellow AL Wild Card contender. The teams split a four-game series in Oakland in early May, but now the series has shifted to North of the Border — where Toronto has been allowed to play for only the last month due to the pandemic. The A’s have gone 15-14 since August 1st and are underdogs against Jose Berrios in Saturday’s tilt.

A’s vs Blue Jays Odds

Odds as of September 3rd at DraftKings.

Probable Pitchers

On the mound, Oakland’s Paul Blackburn (0-1, 2.81) faces Jose Berrios (9-7, 3.53).

Berrios is the headliner here. Unfortunately for Jays fans, the trade deadline acquisition has not necessarily dominated his six starts for Toronto. The two-time All-Star is only 2-2 with a decent 3.76 ERA in the last month, but the team is only 2-4 in those outings.  Only 11 of Berrios’ 26 starts have been quality ones — and three of his six outings with the Jays have been of the quality vintage.  But he’s an overall asset to the pitching staff, throwing at least 90 pitches in 18 of his 26 turns in the rotation.

Blackburn vs Berrios Key Stats

Berrios is coming off a stellar 2-1 win over the Tigers Sunday, when he went seven innings, allowing six hits, no earned runs or walks and striking out 11 Detroit batters.

The 27-year-old is 5-4 with a 3.23 ERA in 13 home starts (ten at Target Field, three at the Rogers Centre) this season. In 12 day game starts, he has a 6-0 record and 3.54 ERA.

🔥 @JOLaMaKina is the 7th pitcher in team HISTORY to have a start with 7+ IP, 10+ Ks, 0 BB, and 0 ER! pic.twitter.com/Qt9dzJfziV

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 29, 2021

Oakland’s season changed trajectories August 17th. That’s when All-Star Chris Bassitt took a line drive off the face in a 9–0 loss to the White Sox that ended his breakout season. Enter Blackburn, who has performed well in Bassett’s steed. The 27-year-old former first-round pick has yet to toss a quality start in his three outings since joining the rotation, but he’s pitched into the fifth inning each time. The right-hander went five innings of shutout ball in his last turn Sunday, allowing only five hits and one walk while striking out one, as the A’s beat the Yankees 3-1.

Blackburn is 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA in his lone road start this season. He’s 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA in his lone day game start (that 3-1 win over New York).

5 IP, 0 R. Paul Blackburn shut down the Yanks.#SundayNightBaseball pic.twitter.com/4KyATQFOTR

— MLB (@MLB) August 30, 2021

Coming In Hot

The A’s and Jays were each winners of four of their last five games coming into the series opener Friday. Josh Harrison has been Oakland’s hottest hitter over the last week, going 9-for-27 (.333) over his last six games. Mark Canha has also been hot of late, going deep three times and driving in six runs in the last five games.

Mark Canha completes the back-to-back blasts for the A's 💥💥 pic.twitter.com/41j7tFpHiq

— The Rickey Henderson of Blogs (@RickeyBlog) September 2, 2021

Matt Chapman only has six hits in his last 25 at bats, but three of them have been big flies with seven RBI. Three players in the Oakland’s projected lineup (Canha, Chapman and Matt Olson) have gone yard against Berrios.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been the home team’s all-around best hitter in the last week, going 9-for-25 (.360) with three homers, six RBI and an OPS of 1.145 prior to the series lid-lifter Friday.

Athletics vs Blue Jays Pick

Blackburn has filled in admirably for Bassitt, who wants to pitch again this season and the A’s have a solid history against Berrios. But this feels like a spot where the veteran comes through. Yes, he’s 0-3 with a 4.32 ERA in his careers (six starts) against Oakland, but I’m fading the A’s here and going with the Jays.

The Pick: Blue Jays -180