Pittsburgh @ Oakland preview

Pittsburgh at Oakland

Last Meeting ( Jun 26, 2010 ) Pittsburgh 0, Oakland 5

Neil Walker was in the midst of the best performance of his young major league career.

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ second baseman had a career-best three hits on Friday night and was a triple away from a cycle during his 11th multi-hit game in the month since he was recalled from the minors.

Then he went chasing a foul ball down the right-field line during the seventh inning. Right fielder Ryan Church also was charging hard toward the ball and the two collided, with Church’s knee banging into Walker’s head.

Walker briefly lost consciousness and spent the night at an Oakland-area hospital with a mild concussion. He missed Saturday’s game between the Pirates and Athletics and will again be out of the lineup Sunday when the three-game series concludes.

The plan is for Walker to be evaluated by doctors in Pittsburgh on Monday. How that exam goes will decide how long Walker will be sidelined.

A stint on the disabled would be a blow for the struggling Pirates, who lost their 16th consecutive road contest on Saturday when they fell to the Athletics for the second straight night.

Walker is batting .295 since his recall with three homers and 12 RBIs. He had been showing some of the ability that prompted Pittsburgh to pick him with the 11th overall pick in 2004.

Bobby Crosby, who had recently become the starting shortstop, moved to second base on Saturday with Ronny Cedeno playing shortstop.

The Pirates have now gone more than a month without winning on the road (they beat Cincinnati on May 25) and are 9-30 on the road this season. The road woes are the worst for the franchise since losing 19 straight away games during the second half of the 1985 season.

Ross Ohlendorf, winless in 10 starts this season, draws today’s assignment for the Pirates. Ohlendorf (0-6) has a 5.43 ERA.

Pittsburgh has only won two of the 10 games Ohlendorf has started, the most recent time occurring on May 31 when he gave up one run and three hits in seven innings while not being involved in the decision.

In his last three outings, Ohlendorf has given up 15 earned runs in 17 innings while taking losses in each start.

Oakland had been struggling in June with a 6-16 record until beating Pittsburgh in each of the first two games of the series. The back-to-back wins are the first for the Athletics since May 28-29.

Center fielder Coco Crisp (ribs) came off the disabled list earlier this week and has terrorized the Pirates. Crisp is 5-for-8 with six runs scored in the series.

Gio Gonzalez (6-5, 3.89 ERA), who starts for the Athletics today, he has just one victory in his last six starts.

Gonzalez wasn’t involved in the decision against Cincinnati in his last start despite allowing just four hits and an unearned run in seven innings.