Pittsburgh @ Oakland preview

Pittsburgh at Oakland

You hear lots of talk about great interleague matchups: Yankees-Phillies, Cubs-White Sox, Yankees-Mets, Angels-Dodgers.

Now meet the other end of the interleague scale: Pirates vs. Athletics.

Yeah, the Pittsburgh Pirates playing a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics before very few fans in Oakland certainly is among the least intriguing interleague matchups possible.

It becomes even less exciting when you factor in the recent ineptitude of both teams.

Oakland has lost 10 of its last 12 games – all against National League teams – to fall a season-worst six games (34-40) below .500.

The Athletics are 6-16 during the month of June.

Pittsburgh suffered its 14th consecutive road loss Thursday night when it lost 6-5 to the Texas Rangers in the bottom of the ninth. The Pirates haven’t won away from home since May 25 and are 9-28 on the road this season.

Overall, Pittsburgh is 25-47, the worst mark in the National League and second worst in baseball to the Baltimore Orioles.

Pittsburgh is 4-16 during June.

At least someone is bound to win with the two woeful teams squaring off against one another.

Oakland will send Ben Sheets to the mound in Friday night’s opener. Sheets has gone eight starts without a win since beating Tampa Bay on May 8.

Sheets (2-7) has lost each of his last four starts after a stretch of four straight no-decisions. His season earned-run average is 4.95.

Sheets has made 22 career starts against Pittsburgh, compiling an 8-8 record and 2.92 ERA.

Rookie Brad Lincoln will make his fourth career start for the Pirates. Lincoln (0-1) has pitched six innings in each of his first three major-league starts and has a 6.50 ERA. He was the fourth overall selection of the 2006 draft.

His last start was his best, as he gave up three runs and eight hits in six innings during a contest in which the Pirates defeated the Cleveland Indians.

Pittsburgh shortstop Bobby Crosby is no stranger to Oakland and the Athletics’ fans. Crosby was the American League Rookie of the Year for Oakland in 2004.

He has been spectacular in last four games, getting multiple hits in each of them while going 10-for-15 (.667). Crosby has started seven of Pittsburgh’s last eight games and is hitting .270 overall after going 2-for-4 against Texas on Thursday.

First baseman/outfielder Garrett Jones went 3-for-4 against the Rangers on Thursday, one night after his 12-game hitting streak was snapped. Jones is batting .423 (22-for-52) over the last 14 games to raise his season mark to .289.

Oakland has received a boost from recent addition Conor Jackson, acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks in mid-June.

Jackson is batting .345 (10-for-29) in his nine games with the Athletics.