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A's hope Cahill can regroup vs. Giants

Jun 19, 2011 - 3:02 PM (Sports Network) - The last month hasn't been too kind to Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Trevor Cahill. What began as a promising start to the season has turned ugly for Cahill, who draws the assignment today in the finale of a three-game interleague series versus the San Francisco Giants at the Coliseum.

Cahill was 6-0 with a 1.72 earned run average in his first eight starts, but has gone 0-5 with a 5.67 ERA in his last seven outings. Cahill lasted only 4 1/3 innings in a 7-4 loss versus Kansas City on Tuesday and gave up four runs on four hits and seven walks. In the start before on June 9 at the Chicago White Sox, he allowed six runs and eight hits in only 2 2/3 innings.

"Just been off lately," Cahill said. "Trying to work on things and get back on track. Hopefully, I can figure it out and get out of this funk I'm in.

The right-hander, who is 6-5 overall with a 3.42 ERA, tossed six innings of one-run ball in a 2-1 loss at San Francisco on May 20 for the no-decision. He is 2-0 with a 1.37 ERA in three career starts against the Giants.

While Cahill is going through his troubles, the Athletics have ripped off a season-high tying four straight wins -- all at home -- and are coming off Saturday's 4-2 victory in the second portion of this series. A big four-run fifth inning propelled the A's to victory as Daric Barton and Cliff Pennington both hit RBI doubles and Hideki Matsui plated two runners with a single.

"We're feeding off each other for sure. No matter who gets the opportunity, we take it as a challenge," said Oakland reliever Brad Ziegler. "We don't want to let anyone else down, let alone the rest of the team."

Ziegler earned the win by getting the final out in the fifth inning and starter Guillermo Moscoso allowed two unearned runs in the first 4 2/3 frames. Andrew Bailey tossed the ninth for his fourth save of the season. Matsui has 499 home runs between his career in Japan and the major leagues.

The Athletics, six games behind Texas for the AL West lead, will wrap up a six-game homestand today before hitting the road for six games against the Mets and Phillies.

San Francisco remained a half-game ahead of Arizona for NL West bragging rights after the D'Backs lost as well last night to the Chicago White Sox.

Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez was saddled with the loss and allowed four runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings. Aubrey Huff drove in a run and Nate Schierholtz collected a team-high two hits for San Francisco, which has dropped three in a row since winning three straight and 10 of 14 games.

"There's no getting around it: It's frustrating for the guys. They're trying. We're in a rut right now," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said on the team's site. "They're trying to get settled in. There's no excuse. We're better than this. We've just got to go out there and compete and find a way to get it done. Right now, we're not."

The Giants will return home after this set to host Minnesota and Cleveland for six games by the Bay.

Matt Cain draws the start for Bochy's ballclub Sunday and he's 3-0 with a 2.78 earned run average in his last three starts -- all Giants wins. Cain went the distance in a win over Washington on June 8, allowing one run and five hits, before squeezing by Arizona in the desert during a 6-5 triumph on Tuesday. He was reached for five runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 frames.

Cain pushed his record to 6-4 in 14 starts to go along with a 3.61 ERA this season and is 3-3 in eight outings on the road. The right-hander has made eight career starts against the Athletics, going 3-5 with a 2.30 ERA.

San Francisco is 41-44 all-time in the Bay Bridge series since interleague play began in 1997. It is still 13-6 in the last 19 meetings with the Athletics. San Francisco swept a three-game series versus Oakland from May 20-22 this season at AT&T Park and had won six straight in the series.

The A's, of course, swept the Giants to win the 1989 World Series and are 138-115 against the National League. San Francisco owns a 116-113 mark in interleague play.