Oakland A’s vs. Toronto Blue Jays: Odds, Prediction
Toronto opened as a -140 favourite on the MLB odds for Friday’s opener.
A’s vs. Jays August 9th Betting Analysis
This is the last season that the A’s will be playing in Oakland as they will move to Sacramento starting next year through 2027 and play at Sutter Health Park, home of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, which has a capacity of about 14,000. Not like the A’s draw anywhere near that many fans in Oakland. The River Cats will continue to play there, just when the A’s aren’t in town. In 2028, the A’s will move to their permanent home in Las Vegas – although there is an option for that year in Sacramento as well in case there are delays with a new ballpark in Sin City, etc.
The most hated owner in MLB is probably Oakland’s John Fisher because he has not cared one iota about winning in recent years, just finalizing the move and taking some revenue-sharing money from the league. Thus, the club will finish well under .500 for a third straight season but actually has played a fair amount better than expected. The A’s were supposed to be worse than the White Sox in 2024, for example, but that’s clearly not the case.
Toronto’s final series in Oakland was from June 7-9 and while the Jays lost the first game, they won the next two by multiple runs each. Isiah Kiner-Falefa had a big series in going 4-for-10 with six RBIs but is now with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bo Bichette also had a solid series (.333, two doubles) but is on the IL. The Jays haven’t lost a season series to the A’s since 2018 or one at home since the same year.
Oakland Athletics
Oakland activated All-Star closer Mason Miller off the injured list on Wednesday. The team at least listened to trade offers for the 25-year-old who regularly tops 100 mph on the gun but wanted an godfather-type deal to consider a deal and didn’t get it. Miller showed no rust with a scoreless inning that night against the White Sox as the A’s avoid the embarrassment of losing a series to perhaps the worst team in MLB history after Chicago ended an AL-record-tying 21-game losing streak with an upset win in Oakland on Tuesday. A’s starting outfielder Seth Brown was placed on the paternity list Wednesday so likely misses at least Friday’s game. Rookie Mitch Spence (7-7, 4.40 ERA) takes the hill. The 26-year-old right-hander has allowed two runs or fewer in three straight. Spencer went a career-high seven innings against the Jays on June 9 in a no-decision, allowing two runs and five hits.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Jays played somewhat of a spoiler role to start this week by taking two of three at home vs. AL East co-leading Baltimore – on Wednesday, team president Mark Shapiro publicly stated how unhappy he was with this season, especially pointing at the bullpen, but didn’t indicate a massive overhaul will be necessarily coming on the roster in the offseason. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stayed scorching hot in Thursday’s win over the Orioles by finishing a single shy of the cycle to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. Guerrero Jr. is batting an absurd .507 during that with 10 homers, 22 RBIs and 23 runs scored. Righty Jose Berrios (9-9, 4.11 ERA) is scheduled on the mound tonight. He has been rather inconsistent of late and the bad version showed up last Saturday at the Yankees as Berrios was hammered for six runs and seven hits (three homers) over five innings of a loss. Home runs have been a problem this year for the 30-year-old as he has surrendered 25 of them, second most in the majors behind Boston’s Kutter Crawford. Berrios didn’t face the A’s earlier this season and is 2-3 with a 3.72 ERA in 10 career starts against them.
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