Toronto Blue Jays vs. Oakland Athletics: Odds, Preview, & Prediction | Monday, July 4th

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Oakland Athletics Preview: Expect Blue Jays & Monoah to roll

Tonight, the Toronto Blue Jays will hit the road to take on the Oakland Athletics in a three-game series. The Athletics have been extremely bad at home this season, with an abysmal 8-28 record. They have lost four out of their last five games and come into a scary matchup with the Blue Jays. This game seems to be a mismatch. There's no reason to think the Blue Jays won't take care of business.

Below, you will find a brief preview of each team followed by a prediction for the game.

Toronto Blue Jays Preview:

"#PLAKATA Number 19" - Blue Jays

The Blue Jays offense has found its rhythm and rank top five in the MLB in many important offensive categories. They have a lot of talent dispersed throughout the lineup, with names like George Springer, Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Teoscar Hernandez. These are the guys the Blue Jays will count on to produce runs early and often.

Alek Manoah will start the game for the Blue Jays, and he has been one of the best pitchers in the league to this point. Manoah has a 9-2 record, with an ERA of 2.09 through 14 starts this year. Manoah has only given up more than two runs in two of those starts. Considering this, Toronto is in great hands tonight.

The key to victory for the Blue Jays is to score runs early and get into the Oakland bullpen that ranks in the bottom five in the MLB.

Oakland Athletics Preview:

"Chipping away." - Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics have been one of the worst teams in the league this season. They have lost 15 of their last 20 games and rank in the bottom 10 of the MLB in both pitching and offense. This isn't a great formula to win ballgames, especially when facing a pitcher like Alek Manoah.

The Athletics will send Cole Irvin to the mound in this game. Irvin has picked up four straight losses and comes into a difficult situation tonight. The Blue Jays see an increase in offensive numbers against left-handed pitching, so that's not a great trend for the Athletics. Considering that he shouldn't get too much run support, the key to victory for the Athletics is to get the best start of the year from Irvin.

Pick/Prediction: Toronto Blue Jays -1.5 (-125)

Not complicating things here: Toronto has better pitchers, better offenses, and a better bullpen. The Blue Jays have a clear advantage and should have no problem covering the run line. A sprinkle on their alternate line of -2.5 is absolutely worth considering.