The Oakland Athletics continue their three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon at the Rogers Centre. It's time to continue our MLB odds series with an Athletics-Blue Jays prediction and pick.

 

The Blue Jays defeated the Athletics 4-1 on Friday night. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. started the scoring by sailing a 2-2 pitch from Daulton Jeffries to deep right-center field. The solo home run was Guerrero's fifth of the season. It gave the Jays a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Later, Santiago Espinal smacked an RBI double to left scoring Raimel Tapia making it 2-0 Blue Jays in the second inning. Eventually, Oakland responded with a score of their own. Chad Pinder clipped an RBI single in the sixth inning to drive in Tony Kemp to cut the deficit to 2-1.

However, Toronto added insurance runs by scoring one in the sixth and seventh innings. Ross Stripling lasted 4 1/3 innings, not allowing a run on two scattered hits. Additionally, the bullpen let in one run over the last five innings. Finally, Jordan Romano shut the door in the ninth inning to secure the save. Meanwhile, Jeffries lasted 4 1/3 innings for Oakland, allowing two earned runs on seven hits. The Blue Jays are 5-3, while the Athletics are 4-4.

Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Athletics-Blue Jays MLB odds:

MLB Odds: Athletics-Blue Jays Odds

Athletics: +1.5 (-110)

Blue Jays: -1.5 (-111)

Over: 9 (-108)

Under: 9 (-112)

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Why The Athletics Could Cover The Spread

Oakland stayed in the game until halfway through on Friday night. Today, the A's will send Paul Blackburn to the hill. Blackburn is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA this season. He tossed five innings of shutout baseball in a win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday. Now, he hopes to continue the momentum against the Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon. Also, he hopes the start will go better than the last battle with Toronto.

Blackburn lasted 3 2/3 innings allowing four earned runs and nine hits in a loss to Toronto last September. Additionally, he gave up three home runs in that contest. Hence, Blackburn must keep the Jays grounded and not let them mash his pitches out of the yard. If he can do this, he may last five innings. In addition to Blackburn, Oakland's bats need to awaken. They mustered six hits yesterday and scored only one run. Also, they left five men on base. The Athletics enter today's game ranking 19th in batting average, 22nd in on-base percentage, and 22nd in slugging percentage. Typically, Oakland has scored runs in bunches for one game and then flails over the next few games. The A's need to strike early and often.

Ultimately, the A's will cover the spread if Blackburn can give them a good performance while keeping the ball in the yard. Oakland must give him run support and cash in on any opportunities they obtain.

Why The Blue Jays Could Cover The Spread

Toronto won yesterday with simplicity. The Jays scored four runs but were efficient in not allowing Oakland to smash their pitches. Today, Toronto has Hyun-Jin Ryu starting. He is coming off a terrible start and a hamstring injury. He lasted 3 1/3 innings allowing six earned runs on five hits and walking two batters. However, the trainers cleared him, and he will be ready to face the A's. Ryu faced the A's one time last season.

In that start, Ryu threw 5 1/3 innings allowing four earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts. Now, he hopes to duplicate the effort and keep the A's at bay. He has plenty of batters to support him in Guerrero, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Bo Bichette. Gurriel is hitting .241, and Bichette is batting .216. Both must break out of their early-season slumps to give Ryu the support he needs. Additionally, the bullpen should continue their recent solid performance. The pen allowed one earned run over five innings in a win on Friday.

The Jays will cover the spread if Guerrero, Gurriel, and Bichette mash the ball. Also, Ryu needs to bounce back from that awful first start. He has been one of the most consistent pitchers in baseball over the last few years. Thus, he can rebound. Lastly, the Jays will cover if the bullpen continues to excel. The bullpen will be better suited to succeed if Ryu can last longer into the game. Thus, it will keep their arms fresh and ready to deliver consistently.

Final Athletics-Blue Jays Prediction & Pick

Can the Athletics rebound from last night's defeat? It is possible. However, history indicates that Ryu will rebound. Toronto signed him to a monstrous contract so he could deliver quality performances. He will deliver on his end, and the Blues Jays will win while covering the spread.

Final Athletics-Blue Jays Prediction & Pick: Blue Jays -1.5 (-111)