Blue Jays aim for fourth consecutive series win in finale against Athletics

They’ll look to parlay that into a series victory as they meet the Athletics in the finale of a three-game set on Wednesday in West Sacramento, Calif. (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, 3 p.m. ET / noon PT).

Toronto fumbled its way to a 6-5 loss in Monday’s opener before Jose Soriano pitched seven strong innings to even the series 1-1 with a 4-2 win.

Now, it’ll be on the Blue Jays’ bullpen to keep things rolling as Braydon Fisher gets the nod as the opener.

Fisher has opened eight games this season among his 69 appearances. The 26-year-old right-hander holds a 3.20 ERA and 1.24 WHIP with 68 strikeouts over 70.1 innings, including five straight scoreless outings. He has yet to face the A’s this series, though he pitched 2.1 perfect innings against the AL West club over two appearances in March.

The Athletics will counter with left-hander Brady Basso in what is likely a bullpen game of their own. Basso, 28, is set to make just his fifth start of the season, and he has yet to work more than three innings.

The third-year pitcher holds a 4.32 ERA on the season with a 1.41 WHIP and 24 punchouts across 33.1 frames.

Third baseman Kazuma Okamoto has led the Blue Jays offensive charge in California, homering in each of the first two games of the series to become the fifth Japanese player to reach 30 dingers in a season. Utility man Josh Smith also stayed hot with his fifth long ball in a Blue Jays uniform on Tuesday.

Toronto (73-73) will look to take advantage of Basso as it enters Wednesday one game behind the Cleveland Guardians (74-72) for the final American League wild-card berth.

The Guardians wrap up a three-game series of their own against the Baltimore Orioles (70-76, four games back) later Wednesday (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT).

Elsewhere in the wild-card race, the Texas Rangers (72-23, 1.5 games back) will go for a third straight win against the Seattle Mariners (67-78, 6.5 games back) while the Detroit Tigers (66-79, 7.5 games back) eye a series victory against the Minnesota Twins (69-76, 4.5 games back).

But for the Blue Jays, scoreboard watching can be saved until after their finale against the A’s, who are 30 games under .500 at 58-88 with an MLB-worst minus-189 run differential.

Toronto then has a day off Thursday before returning home for a pivotal six-game stretch against the Orioles and Tigers.