Blue Jays @ Athletics

Who will WIN this matchup?

Toronto Blue Jays (9-12)

@ Oakland Athletics (11-11)

Starting Pitchers:

Shoemaker (TOR): 3-0; 1.75 ERA

Fiers (OAK) 2-1; 7.06 ERA

Last 10 Games Played:

Toronto Blue Jays: 6-4

Oakland Athletics: 5-5

Current odds:

Toronto Blue Jays: (+136)

Oakland Athletics: (-146)

• The Toronto Blue Jays continued their successful road trip with a long-awaited victory over Oakland in the series opener and look to make it three straight wins on their trek when they visit the Athletics on Saturday afternoon. Toronto improved to 4-1 on its seven-game excursion with a 5-1 triumph on Friday after being swept by Oakland in last season’s seven-game series.Danny Jansen highlighted a four-run second inning with a two-run double and Marcus Stroman worked eight innings for the first time since Aug. 11 for the Blue Jays, who have scored at least five runs in each win on their road trip.

• Matt Chapman went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Marcus Semien also notched a pair of hits for Oakland, which fell to 1-2 on its eight-game homestand. Semien went 0-for-5 during the Athletics’ two-game set versus Houston after a seven-game hitting streak during which he recorded four multi-hit performances. Chapman has driven in a run in five of his last seven contests, collecting a total of eight RBIs in that span.

• A change of scenery appears to be exactly what was needed for Shoemaker, who had battled injuries and inconsistency while with the Los Angeles Angels since going 16-4 as a rookie in 2014. The 32-year-old native of Michigan began his tenure with Toronto with a pair of seven-inning scoreless outings (both victories) and recorded another win in Boston before a no-decision at Minnesota on Monday in which he yielded three runs on four hits and four walks in six frames. Shoemaker is 6-3 with a 4.19 ERA in 14 starts and one relief appearance against Oakland in his career.

• Fiers has been a completely different pitcher this year in Oakland, where he has worked 12 scoreless innings over a pair of victories while surrendering at least five runs in three turns away from home – including the season opener against Seattle in Japan. The 33-year-old Floridian is coming off back-to-back road turns in which he yielded six runs but escaped with no-decisions, the last being a five-inning outing at Texas on April 12. Fiers owns a 1-3 record and 3.49 ERA in seven career games (six starts) against Toronto.

• Blue Jays 3B Brandon Drury belted a solo homer on Friday, ending his season-opening drought of 64 at-bats without an RBI – the third-longest streak in franchise history.

• Oakland DH Khris Davis has gone four games without a home run after belting five over his previous three contests.

• The bottom four hitters in Toronto’s lineup accounted for five of the team’s seven hits and four of its five RBIs in the opener.