In a season in which the American League West was supposed to be a two-horse race between the Los Angeles Angels and the Texas Rangers, it has been the surprising Oakland Athletics that have stunned the pundits.

The Angels are showing some signs of righting the ship, having rallied to earn a split in the four-game series with Toronto, but still are 61/2 games back of Texas and three back of Oakland and residing in the basement of the AL West.

Oakland has assumed the role of the Rangers’ greatest threat early on, with a nice combination of solid starting pitching, a brilliant bullpen and good team speed to help take advantage of some timely hitting.

The Athletics’ team ERA of 3.48 is third in the American League behind just Baltimore and Texas. The only starter that has really been hurting the Athletics is Tyson Ross, who has lost his past two decisions to fall to 1-2 with an 8.55 ERA.

Oakland manager Bob Melvin has been able to get plenty out of his bullpen with Grant Balfour nailing down seven of nine save opportunities and the middle and long relievers (led by Ryan Cook and Brian Fuentes) flirting with perfection most nights.

Melvin, though, deserves accolades himself for mixing and matching his low-budget lineup to get the most out of this group. In a win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, Melvin used his 26th different lineup in the first 29 games.

Offensively the one off-season extravagance the Athletics allowed themselves, centre fielder Yoenis Cespedes, has tailed off somewhat lately after a hot start, but Melvin has found ways to score regardless.

The A’s will add the bat of one-time dominant slugger Manny Ramirez at some point after his 50-game suspension ends on May 30.

Ramirez, though, wasn’t even a shadow of his former self in a short stint with the Rays last season, and it remains to be seen whether he can still dominate opposing pitchers after his lengthy time away from the game and at the age of 40.

For now, the A’s are doing a pretty fine job without him.

BLUE JAYS AT ATHLETICS

TUESDAY 10:05 p.m. LHP Ricky Romero RHP Brendan McCarthy

WEDNESDAY 3:35 p.m. RHP Brandon Morrow RHP Jarrod Parker

OAKLAND’S HOT PLAYERS

OF Jonny Gomes went 5-for-14 (.357) against Tampa Bay on the weekend, with a home run and four runs scored.

SS Cliff Pennington is hitting .308 in his past 26 at bats.

RHP Ryan Cook has yet to allow a run in a game this year. Cook has been on the mound for 14 2/3 scoreless innings so far. He has allowed just three hits.

OAKLAND’S COLD PLAYERS

Former Cuban national Yoenis Cespedes is off to a slow start in May, hitting just .227 with one extra base hit in five games this month.

Second baseman Jemile Weeks did not play Sunday, in part to get him a mental day away from his struggles at the plate. For the season Weeks is hitting just .174. He is just 2-for-24 in his past six games.

GANTER’S TAKE

With Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow on top of their respective games right now, it could be a rough couple of days for an already anemic offence in Oakland. Neither Romero nor Morrow have lost to Oakland in their careers. Combined they are 7-0 lifetime against the A’s. Brandon McCarthy was a big part of Oakland’s success on its recent road trip, picking up wins over Baltimore and Boston in the 5-4 trip. Jarrod Parker got his first ML win in his second start in the pros last week against Boston. So the A’s hurlers have it going too.

PREDICTION

We’ll go out on a limb here and predict a two-game road sweep for the Jays, despite Oakland’s recent success.

Toronto left-hander Ricky Romero credited his teammates for picking him up during his last start. If his history against the Oakland Athletics is any indication, he probably won’t need much help his next time out.

Romero will try to continue his domination of the Athletics on Tuesday night when the Blue Jays open a two-game set in Oakland.

The Jays are off to an uneven start on their 10-game road trip. After opening with consecutive shutout wins against the Los Angeles Angels, they settled for a split of the four-game series following a 4-3 defeat Sunday.

Drew Hutchison gave up Albert Pujols‘ first homer of the season in the fifth inning to put the Angels up 4-1, and Toronto’s rally was stifled by double plays in the eighth and ninth on a popup and a liner.

“I don’t think we are satisfied,” manager John Farrell said of the split. “I don’t know if we can ever be satisfied splitting a series when we had ourselves set up for a series win.”

With Romero (4-0, 3.64 ERA) taking the mound Tuesday, Farrell has to feel good about his club’s chances of bouncing back. Romero is off to the best start of his career record-wise, and opponents are hitting .195 against him – second-best among AL lefties.

He wasn’t at his best Wednesday, allowing a season-high five runs to a potent Texas lineup, but he made it through eight innings for the third time this season and got plenty of support in an 11-5 win.

“It’s just one of those things where I couldn’t find it, but I was able to settle down,” he told the Blue Jays’ official website. “The offense picked me up today … and I just had to go out and make pitches.”

Romero hasn’t needed much help against the Athletics, going 4-0 with a 1.49 ERA in five starts – most recently a three-hit shutout Aug. 18 in Oakland.

The A’s, however, return home after scoring four runs or more six times during a 5-4 trip.

Oakland (15-14) finished the trek with consecutive wins over Tampa Bay, including a 9-5 victory Sunday for its fourth victory in five games.

Brandon Inge, released by Detroit last month, homered for the first time with the A’s and drove in four runs while Jonny Gomes and Daric Barton knocked in two runs apiece.

“A three-team swing can be a little taxing,” manager Bob Melvin said, “but it was an above .500 road trip and we’ll take it.”

Josh Reddick didn’t have a hit Sunday, but walked twice and scored twice. He hit .306 during the road trip with three homers and seven RBIs.

Yoenis Cespedes had two hits and drove in a run Sunday, but hit .205 during the trip. A return home might help as he’s batting .316 with three homers and 11 RBIs in 11 games in Oakland.

Brandon McCarthy (2-3, 2.96) will start Tuesday for Oakland to give rookie Jarrod Parker an extra day off.

McCarthy has a 2.18 ERA over his last three starts. He allowed one run in 6 2-3 innings of a 4-2 win at Boston on Wednesday for his second straight victory, although he’s still looking for his first home win of 2012.

The right-hander is 3-2 with a 3.79 ERA against the Blue Jays.