Cahill wins 17th as Oakland hands Chicago eighth straight loss

A’s pound Buehrle, White Sox 7-2

OAKLAND, Calif. — Trevor Cahill pitched eight solid innings for his team-leading 17th win and the Oakland Athletics beat Chicago 7-2 on Tuesday night, sending the White Sox to their eighth consecutive loss and handing the AL Central title to the Minnesota Twins.

Kurt Suzuki and Cliff Pennington drove in two runs apiece for the A’s, who pounded out 13 hits off Chicago starter Mark Buehrle and one reliever.

Omar Vizquel had two hits for the White Sox, who have lost 12 of 14 overall. Minnesota rallied to beat Cleveland 6-4 and became the first team to clinch a postseason spot when it secured the division with Chicago’s loss.

One day after Gio Gonzalez and three relievers combined on a four-hit shutout, Cahill (17-7) dominated the White Sox through eight innings by himself.

He retired 12 of the first 14 batters before Alexei Ramirez doubled leading off the fifth. Ramirez scored on Brent Morel’s groundout and Chicago added another run in the sixth but that was it.

The 22-year-old Cahill, who began the season in the minors after losing out to Gonzalez as Oakland’s fifth starter, became the first Oakland pitcher to win 17 games since Mark Mulder did it in 2004. The right-hander is also the first A’s pitcher to get to 17 wins without a win in April since Vida Blue in 1974.

Cahill benefited from an A’s offense that had its best night in more than a month. Oakland had four doubles and got some help from two Chicago errors.

Rajai Davis had three hits and scored twice for the A’s. Jack Cust and rookie Chris Carter had two hits apiece.