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Haren, Meche face off as A's take on Royals

May 9, 2007 - 3:57 PM Oakland (16-15) at Kansas City (10-23) 8:10 pm EDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Two impressive aces will square off when Dan Haren and the Oakland Athletics face off with Gil Meche and the Kansas City Royals as the teams continue their three-game set Wednesday.

Oakland has an American League-best 3.07 ERA partly thanks to Haren (3-2, 1.75 ERA), who leads the AL in that department. He has tossed at least seven innings in his last four starts.

In his last outing, the righthander allowed two runs and four hits, while striking out a season-high nine in seven innings in Oakland's 5-2 win over Tampa Bay Friday. He did not figure in the decision.

He will face off against Meche (3-1, 2.23), who has anchored the Royals' struggling staff. The righthander has lived up to the five-year, $55 million free-agent contract he signed in the offseason.

Ranking third in the AL in ERA, Meche has allowed just five runs in 34 innings over his last five starts. He yielded just two runs and two hits in seven innings, while striking out six and walking one, in a 5-2 win vs. the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Friday.

Chad Gaudin turned in his longest outing of the season, and it was a good one, to lead the Athletics to a 6-1 victory over the Royals on Tuesday in the series opener. Oakland has won five of its last eight games.

Kansas City has lost seven of its last nine contests.