Athletics sweep series against Blue Jays

Esteban Loaiza won in his season debut by outpitching A.J. Burnett, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.

Oakland (64-64) has won four straight and eight of 10, reaching .500 for the first time since it was 44-44 at the All-Star break. Toronto dropped to .500 at 63-63.

Loaiza (1-0), sidelined since March with neck and knee injuries, allowed one run and three hits in 7 2-3 innings. He struck out four and walked two, throwing 110 pitches. After Aaron Hill's solo homer in the fifth, Loaiza retired 12 of his next 13 batters before Reed Johnson singled with two outs in the eighth.

Alan Embree finished the four-hitter for his 16th save in 19 chances.

Burnett (7-7) gave up four runs _ just one earned _ and four hits in seven innings with nine strikeouts and three walks. It was his first loss in three starts since he came off the disabled list Aug. 12.

Oakland scored four runs in the seventh, thanks to a pair of errors.

Jeff DaVanon reached on an error by first baseman Matt Stairs, who couldn't handle a throw from shortstop John McDonald. One out later, Jack Cust hit his team-leading 21st homer for a 2-1 lead.

Marco Scutaro grounded out, Dan Johnson walked and Mark Ellis hit an RBI double. Ellis scored from second when Hill fumbled a sharp grounder to second by Jack Hannahan.

Toronto's Frank Thomas was thrown out at second base in the second and after holding up to make sure Gregg Zaun's liner fell in front of Nick Swisher in right. Swisher fielded the ball on a hop and threw to Scutaro.

Notes:@ The Blue Jays have hit four homers in their past two games, matching their total from the previous 13 games. ... Toronto 3B Troy Glaus (plantar fasciitis) was scratched from the starting lineup and replaced by Russ Adams. ... Loaiza was the 51st player Oakland used this season, the most in the major leagues.