Blue Jays hoping to go into All-Star break on a roll against the Athletics

The Toronto Blue Jays came just short of matching their franchise record of 11 consecutive wins after falling to the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on Wednesday in a game where many things just didn’t go right for Toronto. Nevertheless, the Blue Jays have been on a huge roll, as winners of 10 of their past 11 games and currently holding down top spot in the American League East by two games over their arch rivals the New York Yankees.

Toronto will now enter their final series before the All-Star break to face the AL West basement dwellers in the Athletics. The Blue Jays should feel good heading into the matchup as just over a month ago, it was the same Athletics team that the Jays registered their first four-game sweep of the season. Nevertheless, the Athletics have taken games from the Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays and San Francisco Giants in recent weeks, proving their pushovers by any means.

Blue Jays hoping to go into All-Star break on a roll against the Athletics

Unsung heroes such as Nathan Lukes and Joey Loperfido has helped lead the way in recent games for the Jays. Lukes, who has suddenly become a key piece on the roster for Toronto this season, had been hitting at a .375 clip with a 1.069 OPS along with six runs scored, one home run and four RBIs in his past seven games. As for Loperfido, he has been solid in his four games to date since being called up from Triple-A Buffalo. He has posted a .357 average, .928 OPS, with his first MLB home run of the year while driving in five.

As for the Athletics, top prospect Nick Kurtz has sure come as advertised with respect to his power production. In just 55 games this season, Kurtz has already recorded 15 home runs to lead all rookies in the league along with 40 RBIs to boot. Tyler Soderstrom has also been having a breakout campaign, putting up career bests in runs scored (48), doubles (14), home runs (16), RBIs (53) to date while batting a solid .263 with a close to .800 OPS.

In terms of the pitching matchup, the Jays will send Max Scherzer (0-0, 4.76 ERA) to the mound to lead things off on Friday to face long-time rival veteran starter Luis Severino (2-10, 5.30 ERA). From there, Toronto will have ace Kevin Gausman (6-6, 4.13 ERA), then José Berríos (5-3, 3.53 ERA) to finish things off while the Athletics will counter with Jacob Lopez (2-5, 4.26 ERA) and Jeffrey Springs (7-6, 3.92 ERA) respectively.

The Jays will aim to maintain their spot atop the AL East heading into the break while setting themselves up for a meaningful and exciting second half as they look to lock down a postseason berth down the stretch.