The Oakland Athletics will look to bolster their win total and reward moneyline bettors when the Toronto Blue Jays invade Overstock.com Coliseum on Thursday.

Ricky Romero, with a record of 11-9 on the season, gets the ball for the Blue Jays, while the Athletics trot Trevor Cahill to the mound in this one. He is 9-11 so far in 2011.



View Toronto vs Oakland Odds and Stats.

Betting Line:
Bettors looking to back visiting Toronto before the first pitch in this match will find them as 100-moneyline favorites. They will see an Sportsbook total of 6.5.

Power Rankings:
It's a baseball betting matchup between the American League No. 4-rated Athletics and the league No. 5-ranked Blue Jays, according to the latest MLB power poll here at Odds Shark.



How They Match Up:
Rating these teams in several key categories is important for handicappers and Oakland has the American League's No. 11-rated offensive output, at 8.3 hits per game. The Blue Jays average 8.8 hits per game, good for No. 6 on the American League list.

Pitching and defensive stats are important baseball handicapping factors and Oakland has the American League's No. 5-ranked defense. In the other dugout, the Blue Jays own the American League's No. 11 mark in runs allowed.

Last time out for Toronto, they were a 5-1 Sportsbook as they battled the Mariners on the road. Moneyline bettors who got the Blue Jays at -151 were rewarded, while the 6 combined runs moved the game UNDER for totals bettors. The Blue Jays hope for a dominant pitching performance similar to their last game when Brandon Morrow struck out 12 batters in 5-1 victory on Wednesday at Safeco Field.

The Athletics were a 6-5 Sportsbook in their most recent outing at home against the Orioles. That made Sportsbooks of bettors who got Oakland at -159 on the moneyline, while the total score (11) was good news for OVER bettors. The Athletics grabbed a win last time out, defeating Alfredo Simon and the Orioles 6-5 on Wednesday at Overstock.com Coliseum.


Toronto Blue Jays Trends:
When playing on Thursday are 5-5
Before playing Oakland are 6-4
After playing Seattle are 8-2
After a win are 4-6

Oakland Athletics Trends:
When playing on Thursday are 5-5
Before playing Toronto are 5-5
After playing Baltimore are 6-4
After a win are 6-4

A few Blue Jays at Athletics trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Toronto's last 6 games when playing on the road against Oakland
Toronto is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Toronto's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 11 of Toronto's last 16 games when playing Oakland
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Oakland's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Oakland's last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Oakland's last 6 games when playing at home against Toronto
The total has gone OVER in 11 of Oakland's last 16 games when playing Toronto


Next up:
Toronto at Oakland, Friday, August 19