Athletics look for 4th straight win as they begin series against Blue Jays

The Oakland Athletics will continue their homestand Monday when they begin a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays. The A’s just completed their second three-game sweep of the season over the weekend against the Los Angeles Angels. Luis Medina returns from the injured list and will get the start for Oakland while Jose Berrios will be on the mound for Toronto.

The Blue Jays come into the series with a. 75-62 record. They are 10.5 games back of the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East and are 1.5 games back of the Houston Astros for the final Wild Card spot. Toronto took two of three from the Rockies at Coors Field over the weekend.

Medina was activated from the injured list Monday and will start for the first time since August 18 when he allowed three earned runs in just four innings against the Orioles. Medina appeared in 18 games before his injury and posted a 5.44 ERA and a 4.91 FIP in 86.0 innings.

Berrios has been a rock for the Blue Jays’ rotation making 27 starts while putting up a 3.70 ERA and a 4.18 FIP in 158.0 innings. His strikeout rate has ticked up again this season and he has done a better job of keeping the ball in the ballpark overall. He has struggled of late though allowing five earned runs in each of his last two starts.

The A’s were no-hit for the first five innings Sunday, but rallied back from a 3-0 deficit to win 10-6. Ryan Noda and Seth Brown both homered in the sixth inning to give Oakland the lead. They would add on six more runs in the seventh.

Noda has had an underrated season and has been really good since returning from the injured list on August 21. He is hitting .310/.442/.500 with a 172 wRC+ over his last 13 games. Perhaps more important, he has struck out just 19.2% of the time over that span. Zack Gelof added two hits and scored a pair of runs in Sunday’s win. He was also named Rookie of the Month in the American League in what was his first full month in the majors.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Monday, September 4, 1:07 p.m. PDT

Location: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California

TV: NBCSCA

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: A’s Cast, Bloomberg 960 AM / 103.7 HD2, KIQI 1010