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Royals-Athletics Preview

Aug 2, 2010 - 12:00 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Kansas City (44-60) at Oakland (52-51), 10:05 p.m. EDT

Trevor Cahill was selected to his first All-Star team last month. Now, the Oakland pitcher has a chance to add another significant achievement during an already stellar season.

The 22-year-old right-hander looks to set a career high in wins Monday night when the Athletics try for a fifth consecutive victory over the visiting Kansas City Royals.

A little more than halfway through his second season, Cahill (10-4, 2.93 ERA) matched his career high for victories after allowing two hits in eight scoreless innings of a 3-1 win at Texas on Wednesday.

Cahill, who went 10-13 with a 4.63 ERA last season as a rookie, has allowed one or no runs in nine of his 18 starts in 2010.

"He's really kind of turned into our ace," manager Bob Geren told the Athletics' official website. "When Trevor goes out there, we feel really good about our chances."

Cahill has a 5.09 ERA in three starts against Kansas City, but is 2-0 in those games. He allowed five runs and walked four in 6 2-3 innings, but didn't factor in the decision of a 6-5 win at Kansas City on July 17.

Though Oakland (52-52) has won nine of 11 against the Royals, it will try to bounce back from 4-1 loss to Chicago that concluded a 2-4 road trip.

Rajai Davis drove in the lone run and had one of five hits for the A's. Davis is 11 for 28 with five RBIs in his last seven games.

He is a lifetime .366 hitter with eight RBIs against the Royals and 3 for 6 with two doubles versus scheduled starter Brian Bannister (7-10, 5.82), who tries to avoid a sixth straight loss overall and against the A's in the opener.

The right-hander is 0-5 with a 7.15 ERA in six starts since winning at Washington on June 23. He allowed five runs and 11 hits in six innings of a 6-4 loss to Minnesota on Wednesday.

Bannister has not been much better versus Oakland, going 1-5 with a 5.29 ERA in nine starts. He gave up five runs and walked six in 6 1-3 innings of a 9-6 loss to the A's on July 18.

Despite being swept at home by the A's from July 16-18, the Royals (45-60) will try for a season-high fourth straight win after taking the final three of a four-game set with Baltimore to salvage a 3-4 homestand.

"We had really struggled to find ways to win ballgames and to be able to go out and win three ball games is a good sign," manager Ned Yost told the Royals' official website.

Alex Gordon had two hits, including a home run in Sunday's 5-4 win over the Orioles. Once considered a future franchise third baseman for the Royals, Gordon went to the minors to learn how to play outfield after breaking his thumb and has hit two homers in three games.

Kansas City's Jose Guillen, 3 for 30 in his last eight games after going 0 for 4 on Sunday, is 2 for 11 versus Oakland this season.