BEST 5-innings LINE: Pinnacle -½ +111

The Blue Jays are so dangerous. If they get some decent pitching this season they should run away with the AL East because in terms of every day players and their improving bullpen, no team in their division is better. That said, there is no defense for brutal pitching and that is what Liam Hendricks has a history of at this level. Hendriks steps in the rotation in place of Dustin McGowan, who has looked strong out of the bullpen since his return there. Hendriks has been terrific with the Bisons this season, posting a 5-0 record with a 1.48 earned-run average in nine games (seven starts) at Buffalo, while walking just three batters in 48.2 innings. Those are some intriguing stats but Hendriks has been posting outstanding numbers at the minor league level since 2007. At this level it’s an entirely different story, as Hendriks is 2-13 with a 6.06 ERA in 28 major league starts. In fact, Hendriks was let go by the Twins and that’s the easiest rotation in the majors to crack. One could safely suggest that the best organization to be in right now for a young pitcher would be Minnesota’s because its rotation is the worst in the league. Getting put on waivers by Minnesota is as low as a pitcher can go. At this level, Hendriks has a career winning percentage of .133, a BAA of .313, a WHIP of 1.59 and an OPS of .892. He’ll now face an Oakland team that has scored the most runs on the road (149) in the majors and that always hits well at Rogers Center.

Scott Kazmir has a 2.39 ERA and 1.03 WHIP after nine starts. Kazmir is not only striking out batters at a good rate, his groundball tilt has reached an elite 52% level and over his last two starts it’s even higher at 68%. On the road, Kazmir is 3-0 with an ERA of 2.96. Kazmir figures to be very fresh also, as he was ejected in his last start after just 1.1 innings for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Jerry Lane. In four of his nine starts this season, Kazmir did not walk a single batter. All of his stats come with full skills support and there’s a good chance he’ll be pitching with some solid run support early. We customarily don’t like to wager against hot teams like the Jays but the A’s have been hot on the road all year and they figure to take advantage of a big pitching mismatch in a place they love to hit.