TORONTO – Osvaldo Bido and three relievers combined for a two-hitter, Brent Rooker hit his 29th home run and the Oakland Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays 1-0 on Saturday for their ninth shutout of the season.
Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a single in the first inning, extending his hitting streak to 22 games and matching the longest streak of his career, which he had in 2022. It is the longest active streak in the Major Leagues.
Guerrero went 1-for-4. He struck out the tying run to first base in the ninth inning on a 103-mph fastball from right-hander Mason Miller, and got a strikeout.
“You’re always a little nervous in situations like this, but Mason is gaining more experience as time goes on and you can see his confidence,” Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said.
All four pitches Miller threw to Guerrero were fastballs at 100 miles per hour or more.
“That’s the price you pay, even if nothing much happened for two and a half hours,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “Our best hitter got it, saying, ‘Here, hit my best stuff.'”
Bido (3-3) allowed two hits, both singles, and reached his career high by pitching six innings.
“The control was as good as ever,” Kotsay said. “One walk, five strikeouts. Just attacking the zone. Great mix.”
It was the longest goalless spell in Bido’s two-year career.
“All my throws worked very well,” Bido said through an interpreter. “I had confidence in all of them today.”
Left-hander Scott Alexander threw the seventh, right-hander Tyler Ferguson threw the eighth and Miller finished the game with his 17th save in 19 chances.
Toronto was beaten to zero for the fifth time. The Blue Jays have a 15-20 record in one-point games.
Shea Langeliers had four hits for the Athletics, who played a one-point game for the seventh time in their last 14 games. Oakland went 5-2 in those games and is 17-19 by one point this season.
Rooker scored the only run in the sixth inning with a two-out home run against Blue Jays right-hander Yariel Rodríguez.
“It was one of those games where it felt like the team that scored first was going to win, just because everyone on the mound seemed to be throwing really well,” Rooker said.
Rooker’s home run bounced off the wall and was initially ruled a double. However, after a re-examination, the decision was overturned.
“The crew chief didn’t quite understand the play, so I had to go out and say, ‘Hey, we need to look at this,'” Kotsay said. “I think it was three inches, enough to be a home run.”
Rooker’s game-winning home run was the only extra-base hit among the ten hits in the game.
Rodríguez (1-5) allowed one run and five hits in 5⅔ innings. He managed one walk and had five strikeouts. The rookie is winless in five starts.
Oakland had gone eight games without a double play, matching the second-longest streak in team history. The Athletics, who played two double plays on Saturday, had gone nine games without a double play in April 1981.
Toronto’s only other hit came from infielder Ernie Clement, a leadoff single in the second inning.
Squad changes
Athletics: Oakland activated OF/1B Seth Brown from the paternity list and sent INF Armando Alvarez to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Blue Jays: Toronto acquired RHP Luis Frías from Arizona and sent him to Triple-A Buffalo.
Next
Blue Jays RHP Chris Bassitt (9-10, 3.95 ERA) is scheduled to face his former team in Sunday’s series finale. LHP JP Sears (9-8, 4.35) is slated for the Athletics. Bassitt has a 2.31 ERA in five career starts against Oakland.
