(Best E Casino) - The Toronto Blue Jays are flying high right now and will try to keep their torrid recent play going in tonight's opener of a three-game series with the host Oakland Athletics from McAfee Coliseum.

Toronto hits the West Coast having won 11 of its last 14 contests and matched a season-high with its fifth consecutive victory after disposing of lowly Kansas City on Monday. The Blue Jays completed a dominating four-game sweep of the Royals with yesterdays 7-2 triumph, fueled by another outstanding mound effort from starting pitcher Shaun Marcum.

Marcum (4-3) held the Royals to two runs -- one earned -- and five hits while recording six strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings. The performance lowered his season earned run average to 2.64, the fourth-best mark in the American League.

The right-hander received offensive support via a pair of home runs from Gregg Zaun and Marco Scutaro. Zaun blasted a two-run homer to cap a four-run second inning, while Scutaro smacked a solo shot in the fourth. Both players ended 2- for-3 with two runs scored.

Alex Rios also collected a pair of hits for the Jays, including a two-RBI double in the fifth which staked his club to a 6-0 lead.

Toronto also put together a five-game win streak to begin May and improved to 17-8 for the month with Monday's victory. The surge has lifted the Blue Jays into third place in the AL East and four games behind division leader Tampa Bay.

The Blue Jays begin a nine-game road trip this evening that includes stops in Anaheim and New York. For the year, Toronto has compiled a 13-14 record as the visitor.

Oakland is on a roll of its own as well, having won four outings in a row and putting together a three-game home sweep of the defending world champion Red Sox over the weekend. The Athletics have outscored the opposition by a 26-7 margin during the course of their run.

In Sunday's 6-3 victory over Boston, Jack Hannahan came through with a two-RBI single and Jack Cust belted a key two-run homer in the seventh inning to back a solid showing by starter Joe Blanton.

Blanton (3-6) allowed three runs and just five hits over the first six innings, while four Oakland relievers teamed up to blank the Red Sox the rest of the way. Huston Street closed things out in the ninth to notch his 11th save of the year.

The A's have also had their way with the Blue Jays as of late. Oakland has won seven of the last nine meetings between the teams and swept a three-game set from Toronto at the Rogers Centre in April.

The club will have to overcome a red-hot pitcher tonight to keep that string of success intact, however. Toronto's A.J. Burnett comes in having won two straight starts and has amassed a 3-2 record and a 3.48 ERA in five appearances this month.

In his most recent test, Burnett allowed three runs and six hits while fanning six over six innings to help the Blue Jays to a 4-3 victory over the Angels on Thursday. Five days earlier, the oft-injured righty struck out eight and tossed 6 1/3 frames of two-run ball to defeat Philadelphia on the road.

Burnett's worst start of the season came against Oakland, however. The Athletics roughed him up for six runs and 10 hits over 4 2/3 innings on April 8, although Burnett wound up receiving a no-decision in an eventual 9-8 Toronto loss.

In four career starts versus the A's, Burnett is 1-1 with a 3.91 ERA.

Toronto will take its swings tonight off Oakland rookie Greg Smith, who will attempt to end a string of four consecutive losing decisions over a five-start span tonight. The young lefty did pitch well his last time out, holding Tampa Bay to two runs and five hits in seven innings on May 20, but wound up on the wrong end of a 3-2 game.

Smith has been victimized by poor run support during his winless streak, which stretches back to April 24. In those five starts, the Athletics have mustered a total of seven runs and were shut out twice.

The 24-year-old made his major league debut against the Blue Jays on April 9 and received a no-decision in a 6-3 Oakland win. Smith yielded just two hits over six innings in that game, but walked five and was charged with three runs -- two earned.