Riding a season-high four-game win streak, the Toronto Blue Jays crashed back to earth Sunday in a 6-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals.
Now, another road series against a bottom-feeding American League opponent presents an opportunity to get right back on track.
The Blue Jays open a three-game set against the Athletics on Monday, with ace Dylan Cease set to take the hill opposite Jacob Lopez. Live coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ begins at 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT, with first pitch to follow at 10:05 p.m. ET / 7:05 p.m. PT.
Toronto (72-72) enters the day one game out of the third and final AL wild-card spot, currently held by the Cleveland Guardians (73-71).
Canada’s lone MLB club will like its chances, however, against the Athletics (57-87) and with ace Cease set to toe the rubber.
Cease, a leading candidate for the AL Cy Young Award alongside New York Yankees starter Cam Schlittler, is carrying a 10-5 record and 2.25 ERA through 26 starts on the season, with 221 strikeouts over 156.1 innings.
He has cruised through each of his last three starts, going at least six frames in each and allowing just two runs on 10 hits along with 20 punchouts. The often-wild 30-year-old has also issued just one free pass over his last two outings.
Cease’s Blue Jays debut came against the Athletics on March 28, when he worked 5.1 innings with three hits, one run and 12 strikeouts as Toronto earned the second win in a season-opening three-game sweep of the A’s.
The left-handed Lopez, meanwhile, brings a 4.71 ERA and 1.46 WHIP over 23 games (20 starts) into the matchup with the Blue Jays, who could opt to go with a righty-heavy lineup featuring the likes of George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Ernie Clement.
On the season, righties are hitting .267 with a .817 OPS and 15 home runs against Lopez, while lefties have a .204 batting average, .578 OPS and just two long balls.
The Blue Jays are eyeing a fourth straight series victory in Sacramento after sweeping the Seattle Mariners and taking two of three each from the Guardians and Royals.
Elsewhere in the AL wild-card race on Monday, the Guardians open a three-game road set against the Baltimore Orioles (69-75, four games back) while the Detroit Tigers (65-78, 7.5 games back) host the Minnesota Twins (68-75, 4.5 games back) in the opener of a three-game series of their own.
The Texas Rangers (71-73, two games back) are idle before beginning a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners (67-77, six games back) on Tuesday.