Athletics begin home set with Rays

Baseball Betting Lines

04/24/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of struggling teams begin a three-game series tonight at Oakland's McAfee Coliseum, where the defending American League champion Tampa Bay Rays will try to end their slump against an Athletics club that's lost four games in a row.

Tampa Bay won 97 times during the regular season in last year's turnaround campaign, but Joe Maddon's squad has yet to recapture the magic so far in 2009. The Rays have lost seven of their last nine games and currently stand at the bottom of the AL East with a 6-10 record.

The Rays have scored three runs or fewer in each of their last seven defeats, and their offensive struggles continued in yesterday's 1-0 loss at Seattle. Tampa Bay managed just four singles off Mariners starter Felix Hernandez and two relievers on the afternoon.

James Shields (2-2) did come through with a gem on the mound for the Rays, yielding one run and just four hits while walking one over 7 1/3 outstanding innings in a hard-luck loss. The right-hander's only run allowed came on a leadoff homer by Ichiro Suzuki in the bottom of the first.

Tampa hopes to break out in its first-ever encounter with A's rookie Trevor Cahill, who takes a fourth stab at attempting to earn his first major league victory. The 21-year-old has recorded a loss and two no-decisions through his initial three outings, but has allowed two earned runs or less in each of those starts.

Cahill worked around five walks in a 5 1/3-inning no-decision at Toronto last Saturday, holding the Blue Jays to just two runs. The highly-regarded right- hander was even better his previous time out, when he permitted only one run and two hits through seven frames of a 1-0 home loss to Seattle on April 12.

Oakland had a much-needed day off on Thursday after participating in a 14- inning marathon at Yankee Stadium the previous day. The A's came up on the short end of a 9-7 decision in that game, with New York's Melky Cabrera providing the winning margin with a two-run homer with one out in the final frame.

The Athletics tied the contest at 7-7 with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh, but managed just three hits against the Yankee bullpen the rest of the way. Matt Holliday finished 2-for-6 and delivered the tying single in the seventh, while Kurt Suzuki hit a three-run homer earlier on and also collected a pair of hits for Oakland.

Dan Giese (2-2) was dealt the loss after giving up Cabrera's blast in a 2 1/3- inning stint. Oakland starter Brett Anderson worked the first 5 1/3 innings and surrendered five runs on nine hits, three of which were home runs.

The rested A's will take their swings tonight off Scott Kazmir, who pitched the Rays to wins in each of his first two starts of 2009 but turned in a clunker his last time out.

Against the White Sox this past Saturday, Kazmir was reached for six runs and served up a pair of homers in just four innings of his team's 8-3 loss to Chicago. The hard-throwing lefty's control was off all game long, as he issued six walks and threw just 54-of-92 pitches for strikes.

Kazmir did not walk a single batter in his previous start, a 15-5 home rout of the Yankees on April 13 in which he tossed 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball.

The 25-year-old Texan has had very good success when facing Oakland in the past, having amassed a 6-2 record with a 2.70 ERA over 11 career starts against the Athletics. Kazmir allowed only three runs in 19 innings over three starts versus Oakland in 2008, posting a 2-1 mark in those games.

Tampa Bay went 6-3 against the A's a year ago and won four of the six meetings held at the Coliseum.

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