Blue Jays hand Athletics 9th straight loss

The Toronto Blue Jays came away on top of a pitchers duel as they beat the Oakland Athletics 5-1 Wednesday night.  Shaun Marcum was able to outpitch Athletic's starter Gio Gonzalez who was making his MLB debut.  Marcum dominated for seven innings allowing just three hits, one run and two walks while striking out seven.  The only run he allowed came from a Bobby Crosby home run in the 6th inning.  The Blue Jays got the support they needed in the first inning when Rod Barajas hit a 3-run blast to put Toronto in front.  The Blue Jays would go on to add two more runs in the seventh but they didn't need it as the pitching staff was able to lock the A's down all night.  Toronto will go for the four game sweep of Oakland when they play the series finale Thursday night.