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A's hope to ride Cust's hot bat vs. Orioles

May 5, 2008 - 1:43 PM Baltimore (16-15) at Oakland (19-14) 10:07 pm EDT

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) - Just days after going toe-to-toe with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Oakland Athletics almost fell flat on their face. They hope a visit by the struggling Baltimore Orioles can turn things around.

The A's begin a three-game set with the Orioles on Monday.

After showing they belong atop the American League West with a four-game split with Anaheim, Oakland dropped two of three to Texas over the weekend. Jack Cust, who has three homers in the last four games, provided all the help the A's pitching staff needed with a two-run homer in Sunday's 3-1 win over the Rangers.

Cust's power display has provided some excitement to an offense that hasn't given the A's pitching consistent run support. Although Oakland has scored the third-most runs in the AL with 159, they have been held to three or fewer runs in five of their last six games.

The A's will turn to Dana Eveland (3-2, 3.67 ERA), who is coming off one of his worst starts of the season on Wednesday against the Angels. The lefthander surrendered six runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings in a 6-1 loss, extending his four-game stretch of being unable to last six frames.

Baltimore looks to avoid its third straight loss when it sends rookie Garrett Olson (1-0, 2.70) to the mound. The lefthander, who is filling in for injured starter Adam Loewen, went 6 2/3 innings in his first start of the season, allowing two runs and four hits in last Tuesday's 7-4 win over Tampa Bay.