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Aug 8, 2010 - 2:12 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Texas (64-45) at Oakland (54-54), 4:05 p.m. EDT

Trevor Cahill is solidifying his status as the Oakland Athletics ace. The AL West-leading Texas Rangers know all about his ability to dominate.

The 22-year-old Cahill looks to extend the longest scoreless streak of his brief career Sunday when the A's face the Rangers to conclude a three-game series.

In his second major league season, Cahill (11-4, 2.72) leads the A's (55-54) in wins and is among the AL leaders in ERA while allowing a league-low .192 average.

The All-Star right-hander is riding a streak of 18 consecutive scoreless innings spanning three starts, winning his last two. He tossed a three-hitter Monday in a 6-0 win over Kansas City for his first complete game.

"Between his sinker, changeup and curveball, it gives him basically three different speeds," pitching coach Curt Young told the team's official website. "And with him changing speeds on his fastball, he's probably got five or six different speeds. It's really helped him - it's an off-speed pitch other than his changeup that he's throwing for strikes."

Cahill has dominated the Rangers (64-46), going 5-1 with a 1.83 ERA in seven starts. He's been particularly good in three meetings against them this year, posting a 2-0 record with a 0.96 ERA.

The latest of those matchups was July 28, when Cahill yielded two hits in eight scoreless innings of a 3-1 win. Among the Rangers to have struggled versus Cahill are Elvis Andrus, Vladimir Guerrero and Nelson Cruz, who are a combined 6 for 38 (.158) against him.

Cahill looks to shut down Texas just as teammate Gio Gonzalez did Saturday, giving up four hits in seven scoreless innings of a 6-2 win.

The A's are looking for their 10th win in 11 day games and they own baseball's best afternoon record at 26-11. Saturday's victory was originally scheduled as a night game but was changed for TV.

"Even television's trying to give them a chance," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Son of a gun. They're out to get us."

The Rangers are trying to conclude this nine-game road trip above .500 before entering an eight-game stretch against potential playoff opponents. They open a two-game set with AL East-leading New York on Tuesday before hosting Boston and visiting Tampa Bay.

They'll need to show some improvement at the plate, as they've hit .239 during the trip with Michael Young going 4 for 34. Cruz is in a 4-for-20 slump and so is Josh Hamilton, who leads the majors with a .354 average.

They'll try to end their funks in support of Colby Lewis (9-8, 3.45), who looks to avoid losing a fourth straight start.

The right-hander has a 3.60 ERA during his skid while getting just two total runs of support. The stretch includes an impressive effort against Oakland on July 28, as he lost to Cahill despite yielding one run with eight strikeouts in seven innings.

The trend continued in Lewis' outing Tuesday, allowing three runs with nine strikeouts in six innings while the offense mustered four hits in a 3-2 loss at Seattle.

"It's just something that we're dealing with," Lewis told the team's official website. "We have to battle through it. It will come when it comes."

Lewis has received a total of three runs in three starts against the A's this season, going 0-2 with a 3.15 ERA.