TommyMilone
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W9 | 10 |
| L6 | 6 |
| G19 | 24 |
| IP121.1 | 147.0 |
| BB26 | 30 |
| SO86 | 101 |
AaronLaffey
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W2 | 23 |
| L1 | 24 |
| G9 | 135 |
| IP39.0 | 412.0 |
| BB8 | 157 |
| SO22 | 207 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W9 | 10 |
| L6 | 6 |
| G19 | 24 |
| IP121.1 | 147.0 |
| BB26 | 30 |
| SO86 | 101 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W2 | 23 |
| L1 | 24 |
| G9 | 135 |
| IP39.0 | 412.0 |
| BB8 | 157 |
| SO22 | 207 |
With the best pitching staff in the American League, the Oakland Athletics don't need to worry about scoring a lot of runs. Still, it's comforting to know their lineup is capable of putting up some big offensive numbers.
The Athletics look to make it eight straight wins and complete a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday.
Oakland (53-44) has surged back into the playoff picture with a 16-2 record this month, including the team's first seven-game win streak since Sept. 14-20, 2009. They swept a four-game series against the New York Yankees last weekend and have won the first two games at Rogers Centre by a combined 23-2 score.
Wednesday's 16-0 rout matched Oakland's biggest shutout win in franchise history, accomplished on four other occasions, most recently in 2005. Coco Crisp homered twice, Chris Carter also went deep and drove in three runs and A.J. Griffin struck out nine in six innings.
The Athletics entered Wednesday as the lowest-scoring team in the AL at 3.8 runs per game, but have averaged 9.4 runs in their past five road contests.
"The quality at bats that we're getting across the board are much better right now," manager Bob Melvin said.
The improved offense has provided some support for a pitching staff that owns a league-leading 3.32 ERA. Oakland's staff has a 2.37 ERA this month.
Tommy Milone (9-6, 3.34 ERA) will look to keep that run going and help the A's win eight in a row for the first time since a 10-game run June 8-18, 2006.
Milone continued his excellent pitching with another strong performance against the Yankees on Friday. He struck out a career-high 10 in seven scoreless innings before leaving without a decision in a 3-2 victory.
The left-hander has a 1.10 ERA in six starts since allowing a career-high eight earned runs at Colorado on June 13.
Travis Blackley and Griffin have stifled a Toronto offense that scored 28 runs in a three-game sweep at Boston over the weekend. Colby Rasmus , who drove in five runs in that series, is 0 for 6 with three strikeouts in this set.
Already without slugger Jose Bautista (left wrist), the Blue Jays also lost catcher J.P. Arencibia to a broken hand in the second inning. Arencibia, hitting .242 with 16 homers and 50 RBIs, is expected to miss up to six weeks.
Jeff Mathis , who replaced Arencibia behind the plate, pitched an inning Wednesday with the game out of hand. Starter Ricky Romero didn't make it out of the second.
"It's kind of tough to look my teammates in the eye right now," Romero said. "Tonight was just pathetic on my side, a horrible performance."Toronto (48-49) will try to bounce back behind Aaron Laffey (2-1, 2.77), who seeks to win three straight starts for the first time since August 2009.
The left-hander scattered eight hits over seven scoreless innings of a 6-1 win at Fenway Park on Friday.
" He was using a successful recipe," manager John Farrell said. " There were a lot of strikes, got ahead on the count and got a lot of groundballs."Laffey's last start against the A's was in 2008 with Cleveland. He's faced them five times as a reliever since and overall is 1-1 with a 1.84 ERA in 14 2-3 innings.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Daric Barton | 7 | .143 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .143 | .429 | .286 |
| Coco Crisp | 8 | .125 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .300 | .550 | .250 |
| Jonny Gomes | 4 | .500 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 2.000 | 1.500 |
| Luke Hughes | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | .000 |
| Brandon Inge | 9 | .222 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .364 | .586 | .222 |
| Kila Ka'aihue | 1 | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 3.000 | 2.000 |
| Cliff Pennington | 3 | .333 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .666 | .333 |
| Josh Reddick | 2 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 1.500 | 1.000 |
| Adam Rosales | 3 | .333 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 | 1.000 | .667 |
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Ben Francisco | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
Oakland Athletics |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| July 20, 2012 | Cliff Pennington | 15-Day DL | Left elbow tendinitis |
| June 23, 2012 | Collin Cowgill | 15-Day DL | Sprained left ankle |
| June 23, 2012 | Collin Cowgill | 15-Day DL | Sprained left ankle |
| June 20, 2012 | Brandon McCarthy | 15-Day DL | Strained right shoulder |
| June 18, 2012 | Bartolo Colon | 15-Day DL | Strained right oblique |
| June 18, 2012 | Bartolo Colon | 15-Day DL | Strained right oblique |
Toronto Blue Jays |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| July 26, 2012 | Joel Carreno | 15-Day DL | |
| July 25, 2012 | J.P. Arencibia | Day-to-Day | Broken right hand |
| July 17, 2012 | Jason Frasor | 15-Day DL | Right forearm tightness |
| July 17, 2012 | Jose Bautista | 15-Day DL | Left wrist inflammation |
| July 16, 2012 | Jose Bautista | Day-to-Day | Left game - Left wrist injury |
| July 09, 2012 | Luis Perez | Day-to-Day | Torn ligament in left elbow |
TORONTO (AP) -- The Oakland Athletics are too loose a team to fret about the end of a lengthy spell of success.
Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Kelly Johnson added a solo shot and the Toronto Blue Jays ended Oakland's seven-game winning streak with a 10-4 victory Thursday.
"There's not much you can do at this point of the season that's going to crush our spirits," Brandon Inge said. "We're a pretty fun team."
Inge kept the mood light by storming into the clubhouse following the final out and pretending to be upset, calling the outcome "unacceptable."
"I was just joking, making sure everyone knows we're still going to lose a game here and there, but we're going to have fun," Inge said. "That's kind of the way you bounce back. You don't want guys to go `Oh man, we've had such a good winning streak."'
Fellow veteran Jonny Gomes liked Inge's approach to dealing with the defeat.
"One of the reasons we've been successful is everyone's got a short memory here," Gomes said. "When we lose, once we leave these double doors, we clean the slate and come back ready to play tomorrow."
Johnson went 2 for 4 with two RBIs as the Blue Jays avoided a three-game sweep and rebounded from Wednesday's 16-0 loss, their most one-sided shutout defeat.
"Just a good come from behind win today," Toronto manager John Farrell said, "particularly with the way things finished up last night."
Travis Snider had two hits and two RBIs, driving in the tying run with a squeeze bunt, and Brett Lawrie scored three runs for the Blue Jays.
"They executed well and got some big hits down the stretch," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said.
Inge hit a two-run homer and Josh Reddick added a solo drive for the Athletics, who are 16-3 in July and 10-2 since the All-Star break.
"Any time you take two out of three on the road you have to consider it somewhat of a success," Melvin said.
Brandon Lyon (1-0) pitched 1 1-3 innings for his first win since joining Toronto in a 10-player trade with Houston on Friday. Darren Oliver handled the eighth, and Casey Janssen finished.
Toronto starter Aaron Laffey allowed four runs, five hits and three walks in 5 2-3 innings.
Tommy Milone (9-7) gave up eight runs - five earned - and six hits in seven innings with no walks and seven strikeouts.
Reddick's 22nd homer put Oakland ahead in the first, and Inge hit a two-run drive in the third for a 3-0 lead.
Held hitless in the first three innings, Toronto tied it in the fourth on Encarnacion's career-high 27th homer.
"It was supposed to be a cutter in," Milone said. "It just kind of flattened out and stayed over the plate, pretty much right where he wants it."
Reddick's RBI grounder gave Oakland a 4-3 lead in the fifth, but Toronto went ahead 5-4 in the sixth when Snider bunted home a run on a safety squeeze and Lawrie scored as Milone's throw hit Snider in the back for an error.
"It was a great call on his part," Snider said.
Johnson homered in the seventh, just his second since May 28 and 11th this season. Toronto added four runs in the eighth against Sean Doolittle . Snider, Johnson and Jeff Mathis hit RBI doubles and Yan Gomes added a sacrifice fly.
NOTES: Lyon, drafted by the Blue Jays in 1999, won for them for the first time since Apr. 23, 2002. ... Toronto SS Yunel Escobar (back) missed his second straight game. Omar Vizquel started for the Blue Jays. ... Farrell said LHP Ricky Romero , who has lost six consecutive starts, will make his next scheduled start Monday at Seattle. ... Kurt Suzuki started at C for the Athletics but was replaced by pinch hitter Seth Smith in the ninth after being struck by a foul ball.