Toronto Blue Jays’ Bo Bichette dives for home as Oakland Athletics’ Austin Allen waits for the throw during the first inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, May 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
The Toronto Blue Jays are -230-home favorites over the Oakland Athletics in an American League afternoon game slated for Saturday, April 16
Toronto starter Hyun Jin Ryu is 2-0 with a 3.20 ERA in his career against the A’s
See the Athletics vs Blue Jays odds and predictions
The arrival of the Oakland Athletics to Toronto might be just what the doctor ordered for the Blue Jays and starting pitcher Hyun Jin Ryu.
Friday’s 4-1 loss to the Jays was the seventh in a row for the A’s at Toronto. Oakland is winless in Canada since May 20, 2018.
Lefty Ryu, who was roughed up in his season-opening starting against the Texas Rangers, is 2-0 in his career against the A’s and shows a 7.00 strikeout/walks ratio in his career when facing Oakland batters.
Oddsmakers are agreeing with these trends. It’s the Blue Jays who are set as -230 home favorites over the Athletics. Overall, Toronto is 12-2 straight up in the past 14 games against Oakland.
Athletics vs Blue Jays Odds
Team
Moneyline
Runline
Total
Oakland Athletics
+195
+1.5 (-105)
O 9.0 (-115)
Toronto Blue Jays
-230
-1.5 (-115)
U 9.0 (-105)
Odds as of April 15th at Caesars Sportsbook.
Saturday’s first pitch at the Rogers Centre is set for 3:07pm ET. The forecast is calling for cloudy skies, 15 mph wind and a temperature of 47 degrees. But should conditions be bad, not to worry. They’ll simply keep the stadium’s retractable roof shut.
Blackburn vs Ryu
1-0
Record
0-0
0.00
ERA
16.20
2.45
xERA
4.83
1.80
WHIP
2.10
7.00
SO/W Ratio
2.00
Is it time for the Blue Jays to start worrying about 35-year-old lefthander Ryu? He was smacked around in his season debut. The Texas Rangers roughed him up for five hits and six earned runs in just 3.1 innings of work.
Going back to last season, Ryu is 3-5 over his past 11 starts. He’s showing a 7.20 ERA over that span. Ryu has allowed six or more earned runs in four innings or less in four of those 11 starts. He showed an 8.38 ERA over his last six starts of 2021.
Hyun Jin Ryu’s final line:
3.1 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K.
70 pitches, 43 strikes.
GO-FO: 5-0.
5 whiffs.
Heater T91.5 mph, avg 90.1.
ERA at 16.20.#BlueJays
— Scott Mitchell (@ScottyMitchTSN) April 10, 2022
Against the Rangers, Ryu was solid through the first three innings and then it all blew up in spectacular fashion in the fourth inning as he squandered a 6-1 Toronto lead. The Jays opted to give Ross Stripling a spot start in Friday’s series opener against Oakland. That’s enabling Ryu to go Saturday on an extra day’s rest.
Clearly, Toronto is displaying signs of concern about Ryu. The staff ace in 2020 and an AL Cy Young Award finalist, Ryu is now listed as the #4 starter in the Blue Jays’ rotation.
Paul Blackburn, Mean Curveballs. 😡 pic.twitter.com/VwMX4LiN13
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 11, 2022
Paul Blackburn was sensational is his first start of the season against Tampa Bay. Can he do it again, though? That’s been the issue with Blackburn. Last season, in nine starts, he won consecutive starts once.
Blackburn was 1-3 in four road starts with an 8.44 ERA. That included a 10-8 loss on Sept. 4 at Toronto. In that game, the righthander surrendered nine hits and four earned runs in 3.2 innings pitched. He finished with as many strikeouts has home runs he gave up (three apiece).
Blackburn also worked seven shutout innings at Toronto for the A’s on July 26, 2017. Oakland eventually lost the game 3-2.
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Batting Average vs Starting Pitchers
Athletics Batters
Batting Average vs Ryu
Blue Jays Batters
Batting Average vs Blackburn
Elvis Andrus
.000
Bo Bichette
.500
Christian Bethancourt
.000
Cavan Biggio
.000
Seth Brown
.000
Matt Chapman
.000
Drew Jackson
.000
Zack Collins
.000
Tony Kemp
.500
Santiago Espinal
.000
Jed Lowrie
.000
Vladimir Guerrero Jr
.000
Billy McKinney
.000
Lourdes Gurriel Jr
1.000
Yadiel Hernandez
.000
Tyler Heineman
.000
Sean Murphy
.500
Gosuke Katoh
.000
Sheldon Neuse
.000
Alejandro Kirk
.000
Cristian Pache
.000
George Springer
.333
Chad Pinder
.000
Raimel Tapia
.000
Kevin Smith
.000
Bradley Zimmer
.000
Stephen Vogt
.000
—
—
Jays outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr has only faced Blackburn twice but he’s made the most of those limited plate appearances. Gurriel is 2-for-2 (1.000), including a solo home run that came at the Rogers Center last year. Toronto outfielder George Springer is 2-6 off of Blackburn.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. vs Paul Blackburn#WeAreBlueJays
Home Run 💣
Exit velo: 102.1 mph
Launch angle: 35 deg
Proj. distance: 400 ft
No doubt about that one 🔒
That’s a dinger in all 30 MLB ballparks
OAK (0) @ TOR (1)
🔻 2nd pic.twitter.com/Wr0pofFvaU
— Would it dong? (@would_it_dong) September 4, 2021
Athletics catcher Sean Murphy is 1-for-2 (.500) against Ryu with a pair of RBI. A’s second baseman Tony Kemp is also 1-for 2 (.500).
Athletics vs Blue Jays Prediction
Toronto isn’t just beating the A’s. The Blue Jays are wearing out the Athletics. The Jays have outscored Oakland 93-49 over the past 14 games.
🕺🏽 VICTORY MOOD 🕺🏽 pic.twitter.com/CAhAr1ZCf6
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 16, 2022
In that stretch, Toronto is 12-2 SU and 10-4 against the runline. The Jays have outscored the Athletics 93-49.
Pick: Toronto Blue Jays runline -1.5 (-115)
