Chicago @ Oakland preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 24, 2010 ) Chi. White Sox 2, Oakland 10

The Oakland Athletics are playing some of their best baseball of the season, and Jack Cust has been at the middle of the surge.

The A’s will be looking to clinch their fourth straight series win as they close out a three-game set against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

Cust homered twice on Saturday as Oakland pounded the White Sox 10-2 in the biggest run-scoring outburst of the month for the club. Kurt Suzuki added three hits and drove in a pair and Daric Barton chipped in two RBIs in the romp.

Cust was the star, drawing three walks and scoring three runs in the contest. Since returning from the All-Star break, the slugging outfielder has homered four times and driven in 11 runs in seven games, recording two hits in each of the last three games.

Cut by the team in spring training, Cust accepted a minor league assignment with Oakland and was finally recalled in mid-May. A low-batting average, high-strikeout slugger the past few seasons, Cust is batting a career-high .306 while providing his usual high on-base percentage and high slugging numbers.

Taking on Cust and looking for his second consecutive win for the White Sox on Sunday will be rookie Dan Hudson. The 23-year-old right-hander dominated the Seattle Mariners on Monday, allowing one run on five hits while walking four and striking out six in 6 2/3 innings. It was a swift departure from his first start of the season, when Hudson allowed five runs in four innings against the Kansas City Royals on July 11.

Hudson was the top pitching prospect in Chicago’s system before being forced into service when Jake Peavy went down with a shoulder injury earlier in the month. After racing through four levels of the minors in 2009, Hudson settled in at Class AAA Charlotte this season, going 11-4 with a 3.47 ERA before being recalled.

Instead of Ben Sheets putting on a display for potential trade partners on Sunday, Dallas Braden will get the start for Oakland in the series finale. Sheets, who had been pitching well of late and was rising up the list of available starters at the trade deadline, was placed on the disabled list on Saturday with an elbow injury.

Braden, who came off the disabled list on Monday after missing nearly a month with elbow stiffness, is still looking for his first win since pitching a perfect game on May 9. The Oakland offense hasn’t done Braden any favors, managing to average two runs per game over his last nine starts.

The right-hander lasted only 4 2/3 innings against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, allowing four runs – one earned – and 10 hits while striking out six in a no-decision.