Toronto @ Oakland preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 19, 2011 ) Toronto 0, Oakland 2

THE STORY: The season was going so well for Gio Gonzalez after making the American League All-Star team and winning his first start after the break. Things have gone downhill since for the Oakland Athletics lefthander. Gonzalez seeks to break a five-game losing streak when he opposes the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday. Gonzalez has a 7.90 ERA during his skid to see his once tidy ERA rise by over a run. Toronto had been scoring runs in bundles prior to being stymied by Oakland’s Rich Harden in Friday’s series opener. Harden struck out 11 in seven shutout innings as Toronto saw its streak of homers in 12 consecutive games end.

TV: 9:05 p.m. ET, RSN (Toronto), CSCA (Oakland).

PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays RH Henderson Alvarez (0-0, 5.91 ERA) vs. Athletics LH Gio Gonzalez (9-11, 3.36 ERA)

Alvarez is making his third major-league start. He took a no-decision against Seattle in his last outing when he gave up four runs and six hits in five innings. Alvarez was in line to win the game until Toronto’s bullpen allowed back-to-back homers in the eighth. His major-league debut came against the Athletics in Toronto on August 10 when he gave up three runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Gonzalez lost to Baltimore in his last outing when he gave up four runs in six innings. He fell to Toronto on August 10 when he gave up four runs and four hits in five innings. Overall, he is 1-2 with a 4.01 ERA in four career starts against the Blue Jays. Adam Lind is 4-for-11 against Gonzalez.

ABOUT THE ATHLETICS (56-69): Oakland is 4-4 against the Blue Jays this season. The Athletics are 3-5 on a 10-game homestand with two contests remaining. Oakland began the homestand with four straight defeats. Josh Willingham hit a two-run homer for the only runs in Friday’s 2-0 victory. Willingham has 21 homers with six coming in August. He hit five in both May and July. Hideki Matsui has hit in five straight games and is batting .380 since the All-Star break. Kurt Suzuki has two hits for his second multihit game in three contests. Closer Andrew Bailey converted his eighth straight save and is 16-for-18 in save opportunities this season.

ABOUT THE BLUE JAYS (64-61): Toronto had scored 46 runs in its previous six games before being blanked on three hits in Friday’s opener. Jose Bautista had one of the hits and walked three times to raise his major-league leading bases on balls total to 102. He reached 100 walks in his 113th game, making him the faster to reach 100 walks in a season since former San Francisco star Barry Bonds in 2007. Toronto has hit 24 homers in August. Righthander Joel Carreno was recalled from Double-A New Hampshire on Friday to replace Brad Mills, who was demoted to Triple-A Las Vegas one day earlier. Lefthander Luis Perez will start Sunday in Mills’ rotation spot.

FINAL PITCH: Toronto scored fewer than five runs in a game Friday for the first time since a 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 12.