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A's visit Rogers Centre

Apr 5, 2011 - 3:02 PM (Sports Network) - The Toronto Blue Jays continue their season-opening six- game homestand Tuesday when they welcome the Oakland Athletics to Rogers Centre for the first of a three-game series.

The Blue Jays began the John Farrell era by taking two of three from the Twins over the weekend. Toronto's new skipper nearly saw his club put together a three-game sweep as a late Jays' rally fell short Sunday against Minnesota closer Joe Nathan.

The Twins carried a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth and Nathan allowed two hits and a sacrifice fly to make it a one-run game with two outs. A pair of walks then loaded the bases for Adam Lind, who grounded out to end the game.

Toronto was aiming to start 3-0 for the first time since 1996.

Lefty Brett Cecil (0-1) took the loss in his first start of 2011, allowing three runs and six hits in five innings. A throwing error in the fourth plated Toronto's initial run and Jose Bautista, who led the majors last season with a club record 54 home runs, belted his second of 2011 to lead off the sixth.

Heading to the hill for the Jays this evening will be Jo-Jo Reyes. With Brandon Morrow starting the season on the disabled list the Blue Jays were forced to shuffle their rotation to start the year, giving Reyes a shot to prove his worth after a rocky stint in Atlanta.

The 26-year- old southpaw is a former second-round pick of the Braves (2003) and spent parts of the past four years with the parent club. His chances of sticking in the bigs went steadily downhill after a 3-11 campaign in 2008. Consequently, the native Californian made just seven more appearances over the last two years.

Reyes' spring numbers, however, were encouraging, logging 23.0 innings in six games (four starts) and pitching to a 3.52 ERA.

Looking to keep a small amount of momentum going is Oakland, which found the win column for the first time Sunday by salvaging the finale of a three-game home set with Seattle.

The Athletics put up seven runs after scoring four over the first two games with Hideki Matsui's bases-loaded bloop single helping key a four-run seventh in the 7-1 final. Mark Ellis ended with three runs batted in and Gio Gonzalez (1-0) tossed seven innings of one-run ball.

Not only did Matsui collect the 2,500th hit of his career but also his first two hits for Oakland, which inked the prized Japanese slugger to a one-year deal in December. Coco Crisp went 3-for-5, scored a run and knocked in another while Gonzalez scattered six hits, walked four and struck out four.

"We're excited," Gonzalez said after the win. "We just needed to wake up a little bit."

Heading to the hill for the A's tonight will be right-hander Brandon McCarthy. Once the prized jewel of the Chicago White Sox, injuries have limited him to just 22 starts over the last three years.

McCarthy appeared in 17 games for the Texas Rangers last season and was 7-4 with a 4.62 ERA.

Toronto took four of seven matchups from the A's in 2010.