Athletics at Blue Jays
The Oakland Athletics have encountered horrific troubles on the road this season, but the Rogers Centre has served as a House of Horrors for the club for quite some time. Oakland has dropped 10 of its last 11 at the home of the Toronto Blue Jays, including the first two heading into the third contest of the four-game series on Wednesday.
Khris Davis drove in a run with the first of his two doubles during Tuesday's 4-1 loss for the Athletics, who have mustered just six runs in their last three games. Oakland has lost six of its last eight overall, is 1-4 on the current seven-game road trip and its 16 wins away from home are tied for the fewest in the majors. While the Athletics' troubles are many on the road, Toronto has returned to the good graces of its faithful by winning four of its last six home contests to even its record at Rogers Centre after 48 games. Struggling Jose Bautista snapped an 0-for-17 slump with an RBI double, giving the 36-year-old slugger a bit of optimism with his future unclear days ahead of the non-waiver trade deadline.
TV: 7:07 p.m. ET, NBCSN California (Oakland), Sportsnet, TVA Sports (Toronto)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics RH Paul Blackburn (1-1, 2.88 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Marco Estrada (4-7, 5.52)
Blackburn owned a 1-0 mark with a 1.83 ERA before sustaining his first career loss on Friday after allowing a season high in runs (four) in a campaign-worst 5 1/3 innings of a 7-5 setback at the New York Mets. "I feel like I battled. My fastball command's not where I wanted it to be (in that outing). I've got to work on that," the 23-year-old rookie told reporters. Blackburn surrendered a homer for the third straight outing and only tossed 76 pitches before departing.
Estrada fell to 0-5 with a 9.52 ERA in his last nine starts after permitting five runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings of Friday's 13-3 setback at Cleveland. The 34-year-old pending free agent hasn't done himself any favors with his lack of control, yielding 26 walks in his last six outings (28 innings). Estrada looks to atone for his last encounter versus Oakland, against which he allowed four runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 4-1 setback on June 6.
WALK-OFFS
1. Toronto SS Troy Tulowitzki has recorded multi-hit performances in three of his last five contests.
2. Oakland 2B Jed Lowrie is 0-for-7 in this series on the heels of a four-game hitting streak.
3. Athletics OF Rajai Davis is 0-for-6 in his last four contests after collecting multi-hit performances in four of his previous six games.