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Royals-Athletics Preview

May 12, 2009 - 5:32 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Kansas City (18-14) at Oakland (11-18), 10:05 p.m. EDT

The Kansas City Royals came to the West Coast last week riding a lengthy winning streak sparked by a surging offense. Their bats were silenced in Southern California, and they may have trouble breaking out of their slump as their trip continues to Oakland.

The Royals look avoid losing their fourth in a row Tuesday night when they open a two-game series against the Athletics, who boast one of the best pitching staffs in the majors.

Kansas City (18-14) has been one of the biggest surprises in baseball this season and opened its five-game road trip last Friday atop the AL Central.

The Royals were swept by the Los Angeles Angels, though, managing just four runs in the three games. Kansas City, which lost 4-3 on Sunday to drop percentage points behind first-place Detroit, had averaged 6.7 runs in winning its previous six games.

Getting the offense on track in Oakland (11-18) won't be easy.

Although the A's have the AL's second-worst record, it hasn't been the fault of their pitchers. Oakland is fourth in the majors in team ERA (3.88), while the offense is last in the league in runs (121) and batting average (.236)

The A's were held to five hits in Sunday's 5-0 loss to Toronto, their sixth defeat in eight games.

Trevor Cahill (1-2, 3.82 ERA) looks to build off a couple of solid outings and help Oakland get back in the win column when he takes the ball.

After being tagged for seven runs in 2 2-3 innings of an 8-2 loss to Tampa Bay on April 24, Cahill has given up two runs in 13 innings in his last two starts.

On Thursday, the rookie right-hander allowed one run and five hits in seven innings of a 9-4 win over Texas for his first career victory. He entered the game tied for the AL lead for walks (18), but did not issue one to the Rangers.

"No walks is definitely a huge step for me," Cahill said. "It's been my weakness my whole career. I felt like I was getting into a groove during my last start."

The Royals counter with Luke Hochevar, who is set to make his first start of the season since being recalled from Triple-A Omaha.

Hochevar is taking the roster spot of All-Star closer Joakim Soria, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with a shoulder injury, and is taking the spot in the rotation of Sidney Ponson, who moves to the bullpen.

After going 6-12 with a 5.51 ERA in 22 starts for Kansas City in 2008, Hochevar competed for a spot in the starting rotation during spring training.

The right-hander ended up being sent to Omaha, where he went 5-0 with a 0.90 ERA in six starts. In his last outing on Thursday, Hochevar allowed five hits and struck out nine in eight shutout innings.

"He's coming off one of his best outings so far this year and, hopefully, that'll help our team win ballgames," Royals manager Trey Hillman told the team's official Web site.

Hochevar made his second career start against the A's on April 20, 2008, yielding six runs and nine hits in 4 2-3 innings of a 7-1 loss.

The Royals were swept in a three-game series in Oakland last April, but won the final six meetings of 2008.

Kansas City, which also won six in a row over the A's in 1988, hasn't won seven straight over them since an eight-game run from Sept. 4, 1978-June 18, 1979.