Cahill goes after seventh win in finale with ChiSox

Baseball Betting Lines

05/15/2011 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of aces will take the mound this afternoon at the Coliseum in the rubber match of a three-game series between the Chicago White Sox and the Oakland Athletics.

Unbeaten Trevor Cahill takes the ball for Oakland, while Mark Buehrle will hit the bump for Chicago in what is expected to be a fantastic pitchers' duel.

Cahill has been the best hurler in the game so far this season. In addition to a perfect 6-0 record, Cahill owns a miniscule 1.72 ERA and is coming off a stellar performance against the Rangers on Monday when he gave up a run and five hits in seven innings.

A win today would make him the majors' first seven-game winner. However, Detroit's Max Scherzer, who is also 6-0, will be on the hill this afternoon as well.

Cahill has allowed one run or less in seven of his eight starts this season. The one exception was against the White Sox, who reached him for four runs and six hits in just 4 2/3 innings. He is 1-1 lifetime against them with a 3.93 ERA.

Buehrle, meanwhile, is just 2-3 with a 4.05 ERA, and while he didn't figure in the decision of an extra inning win over the Mariners his last time out, he pitched well enough to get the win, as he allowed just two runs in eight innings.

The left-hander owns a 2.08 ERA in his last three outings and seems to have hit his stride.

On Saturday, David DeJesus had a two-run triple -- his 1,000th career hit -- to help lead Oakland over Chicago, 6-2.

Tyson Ross (3-2) earned the win in 7 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk while fanning eight. The effort helped the A's snap a two-game slide.

Gavin Floyd (4-3) took the loss after allowing five runs on nine hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. He also struck out four in Chicago's second loss in seven games.

"It's a long season, you know. There are going times when you're going to be at your high and sometimes when you're not going to be at your best," said Floyd. "It just happened to be the day that I didn't pitch very well."

The White Sox went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

"I've had some success against Gavin [Floyd]. I've seen him a lot, and in that situation when you have a 2-0 lead and you needed a couple more to get a little security...It's a great situation to get number 1,000 on," said DeJesus.

Oakland took two of three from the White Sox earlier in the year.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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