Athletics look to avoid sweep behind JP Sears Wednesday

The Oakland Athletics will try to avoid a sweep Wednesday afternoon when they wrap up their homestand against the Toronto Blue Jays. The A’s dropped the first two games of the series falling 6-5 in 10 innings Monday and 7-1 Tuesday despite a good showing by Ken Waldichuk. JP Sears will get the start for Oakland in the finale while Toronto will go with veteran lefty Hyun Jin Ryu.

Sears will make his 28th start Wednesday and is coming off of a good outing in his last start. Sears was tagged for 18 hits and 13 runs combined in just 10 innings in his last two starts in August. He bounced back effectively to start September by tossing six scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Angels. Despite his recent struggles, Sears has largely been the A’s most consistent rotation option. He has already blown past his career-high in innings with 146 2/3. His biggest issue has been the long ball, having surrendered 31 homers which is the fourth most in the majors.

Ryu made his season debut on August 1 and has pitched well posting a 2.48 ERA over his first 29 innings. He allowed four hits and two runs over five innings in his last start against the Rockies.

The A’s finished with seven hits in Tuesday’s loss, but were just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Five of those seven hits were singles. The exceptions were doubles by Zack Gelof and Seth Brown. For Gelof, it was his 15th double of the season. Twenty six of his 50 hits have gone for extra bases.

Oakland’s bullpen allowed six earned runs in Tuesday’s loss and has allowed eight over the first two games of the series.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Wednesday, September 6, 12:37 p.m. PDT

Location: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California

TV: NBCSCA

Streaming: MLB.tv

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