OAKLAND -- The way Aaron Brooks' night started, it looked like manager Bob Melvin might have to go to his bullpen early. He righted the ship and provided some length, but a poor second inning doomed the A’s in Friday’s 5-1 loss to the Blue Jays.

Matt Chapman’s RBI double in the first inning provided Brooks with an early 1-0 cushion, but the right-hander quickly gave that up as the entire Blue Jays lineup batted as part of a four-run second inning.

Falling behind in the count proved to be costly for Brooks. Of the nine batters he faced in the fourth, he only threw a first-pitch strike to four of them. When he did get a pitch in the zone, it was often crushed, like the first-pitch fastball left over the heart of the plate against Danny Jansen that resulted in a two-run double.

“It’s a lot easier for guys when they’re ahead 1-0 or 2-0 all the time,” Brooks said. “I tried to nibble and pick too much and fell behind too much.

“I didn’t get them to bite on a couple of offspeed pitches, and they took what they needed to take. They capitalized on my mistakes.”

Brooks surrendered another run in the fourth, a solo homer by Brandon Drury, causing the A’s bullpen to get going with just one out. He settled down and managed to complete five innings, but the damage done early was too much for the A’s to overcome as their offense was stifled by a strong performance from Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman.

The A’s starting lineup entered the night hitting a combined .324 against Stroman. That did not matter Friday night as Stroman looked sharp, completing eight innings in a start for the first time since Aug. 11, 2017 and holding the A’s to just one run on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts.

“Really good slider. When he’s good, that’s his pitch,” Melvin said. “He was painting with the heater on the outside corner and then extending off and throwing it for a strike when he needs to with just enough changeups to some lefties.”

Stroman entered the night with a career 6.75 ERA in four starts against the A’s. He was well aware of that history and knew it would require his best stuff to get through a tough lineup that included Khris Davis, whom he held 0-for-4 with three strikeouts on the night, calming the buzz generated from the slugger’s official announcement of a signing to a two-year contract extension with Oakland earlier in the day.

“Their lineup, one through nine, is unbelievable,” Stroman said. “You have to do a really good job of mixing [pitches] between Chapman and Davis.”

Marcus Semien, the A’s hitter with the best numbers against Stroman as he entered 4-for-7, continued that success with a 2-for-4 night. He now has multi-hit efforts in each of his last six games against Toronto, passing Miguel Tejada and Terrence Long for most consecutive multi-hit games against the Blue Jays in team history.

Brooks on the hot seat?
Brooks’ ERA ballooned to 5.32 on the year, and he allowed a home run for a third consecutive start. After beating out stiff competition for the A’s fifth starter job out of Spring Training and making an impressive debut of six shutout innings against the Red Sox, it has been a shaky road for the right-hander.

“As a starter, my job is to go out there and keep the team in the game as long as possible,” Brooks said. “With our heavy lineup, four runs on most days is not a big deal. But it’s also a momentum game and when the other team gets a nice four-run inning, it puts a damper on our team.”

With the A’s having signed Edwin Jackson, an integral piece of their 2018 run to the playoffs, to a Minor League deal last week, and Melvin saying Daniel Mengden will be a part of their big league plans at some point this season, Brooks could be the odd man out in the rotation once either of those two pitchers are deemed ready for a call back up to the Majors.

Piscotty also has a cannon
Ramon Laureano is not the only A’s outfielder capable of gunning down baserunners with a strong arm on a given night.

Toronto's Billy McKinney lined a ball past a diving Kendrys Morales into right field to lead off the sixth and did not hesitate to go for third base as the ball went over the bullpen mound in right-field foul ground.

As McKinney rounded second, Piscotty picked up the ball and fired a strong throw to third base, where Chapman was waiting and applied a slick swipe tag for the out.

This isn’t new for Piscotty. While it was his first outfield assist of the season, the right fielder recorded five in 2018. The outfield assist on Friday was Oakland’s seventh of the season, tied for most in the American League. Laureano has five of those, which leads MLB.

Bullpen looks strong
One positive the A’s can take away from the tough loss was the performance of their bullpen.

Yusmeiro Petit, Fernando Rodney and Joakim Soria combined to allow just one hit and one walk with five strikeouts over four shutout innings. It was Soria’s second consecutive scoreless outing as he looks to get back on track as Oakland’s set-up man following a bad outing at Texas last week that saw him blow a three-run lead.

“We have some guys that have gotten off to slow starts but have really good track records,” Melvin said. “Sometimes you want to get them some outings that are less pressure-packed to work on some things.”

Staying hot
Chapman’s 2-for-4 night, which also included a double, upped his batting average to .344 with with eight RBIs over his last nine games.