Toronto Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr., right, thanks the Almighty for his solo home run in the first inning against the Oakland A’s at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Fri Apr 15, 2022 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

Oakland Drops Series Opener to Blue Jays 4-1

By Barbara Mason

The Oakland A’s (4-4) have been on a tear taking a series from the Tampa Bay Rays three games to one. The hits have been coming unlike the first few games where they failed to score in the early innings. Oakland has also been knocking the ball out of the park regularly with runners on base.

They opened the series with the Toronto Blue Jays (5-3) for three games at Rogers Centre Friday night with a 4-1 win. The A’s saw a familiar face in the Blue Jays lineup in this game. It was the first game that Oakland faced former A’s third baseman Matt Chapman.

Ross Stripling took the mound for Toronto and Daulton Jeffries Daulton got the nod for Oakland.

The Blue Jays got on the board with two runs in the early innings. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a home run for a 1-0 Toronto lead in the first inning. The Blue Jays would carry that momentum into the second inning with a Santiago Espinal double driving in Raimel Tapia for a 2-0 lead.

The A’s would make some noise in the sixth inning. With runners on first and second and one out Chad Pinder would single to center driving Tony Kemp home and getting the A’s on the scoreboard. Oakland would get one run on three hits to end the top of the sixth inning. They trailed the Blue Jays 2-1.

Jefferies would pitch through four innings before being relieved by Justin Grimm. Oakland’s Sam Moll would relieve Grimm in the middle of the sixth inning.

The Blue Jays would extend their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Zach Collins singled driving in Guerrero. Toronto took the lead 3-1 going into the seventh inning.

The Blue Jays really went to work in the seventh inning. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. doubled bringing George Springer home for a 4-1 lead. Adam Kolarek would relieve Zach Jackson with the bases loaded. He would strike out Bradley Zimmer and Santiago Espinal would ground out to Kolarek. The Oakland pitcher had minimized the damage with a single run.

Oakland had their last chance in the ninth inning. Christian Bethancourt and Stephen Vogt would both strike out and Seth Brown grounded out in a flat performance in this game. There would be no rally for Oakland this time.

Tomorrow the A’s will play the second game of this series at Rogers Centre in Toronto. Paul Blackburn will be taking the mound for the A’s and for the Blue Jays Hyun Ryu will get the nod. First pitch is schemed for 12:07.