Fiers expected to start for the Athletics against the Blue Jays

Toronto Blue Jays (15-14, fourth in the AL East) vs. Oakland Athletics (19-13, first in the AL West)

Oakland, California; Thursday, 3:37 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Blue Jays: Hyun Jin Ryu (1-2, 0.00 ERA) Athletics: Mike Fiers (0-1, 4.50 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 3 strikeouts)

LINE: Athletics +125, Blue Jays -144; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Blue Jays will take on the Athletics Thursday.

The Athletics are 11-9 on their home turf. Oakland has hit 42 combined home runs this season, most in the American League. Ramon Laureano leads the team with seven homers.

The Blue Jays are 8-10 on the road. The Toronto pitching staff has a combined team ERA of 3.54, Steven Matz paces the staff with a mark of 4.78.

The Blue Jays won the last meeting 9-4. Jordan Romano notched his third victory and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI for Toronto. Lou Trivino took his first loss for Oakland.

TOP PERFORMERS: Laureano leads the Athletics with 14 extra base hits and is slugging .518.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads the Blue Jays with 34 hits and has 22 RBI.

LAST 10 GAMES: Athletics: 5-5, .221 batting average, 3.58 ERA, outscored by five runs

Blue Jays: 6-4, .252 batting average, 4.30 ERA, outscored opponents by 12 runs

INJURIES: Athletics: J.B. Wendelken: (left oblique), Burch Smith: (groin), Trevor Rosenthal: (chest), A.J. Puk: (left biceps), Jesus Luzardo: (left hand), Chad Pinder: (knee), Aramis Garcia: (illness).

Blue Jays: Kirby Yates: (tommy john surgery), Hyun Jin Ryu: (right glute), Patrick Murphy: (shoulder), Tommy Milone: (undisclosed), Julian Merryweather: (left oblique), Tom Hatch: (elbow), Anthony Castro: (forearm), George Springer: (quad), Alejandro Kirk: (left hip flexor).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.