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Jun 26, 2010 - 6:27 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Pittsburgh (25-47) at Oakland (34-40), 10:05 p.m. EDT

Facing Trevor Cahill and the Oakland Athletics might not present the ideal scenario for the Pittsburgh Pirates to snap their lengthy road skid.

The right-hander tries for a sixth straight victory while looking to help the A's hand the Pirates their 16th consecutive road loss Saturday night.

Oakland (35-40) snapped a three-game skid with a 14-4 rout of Pittsburgh on Friday. The A's are 7-0 versus the Pirates (25-48), mired in their longest road losing stretch since dropping 19 in a row July 23-Aug. 30, 1985.

Facing Cahill (6-2, 3.21 ERA) for the first time might add to the challenge of ending that drought. The 22-year-old is 5-0 with a 2.62 ERA in seven starts since losing to the Los Angeles Angels on May 16.

"Trevor's throwing the ball real well," manager Bob Geren told the Athletics' official website. "He's been very consistent, no lapses at all. He's the guy we've been going to, and I'd say he's as good as anybody this past month."

He allowed two runs and four hits in six innings, but didn't factor in the decision of a 3-2 win at St. Louis on Sunday.

Cahill, 2-0 with a 3.44 ERA in three interleague starts this season, hopes for the same kind of support the A's gave Ben Sheets and four relievers Friday.

Among the lowest-scoring teams in the majors with 304 runs, the A's broke out Friday for their highest scoring game of the season after totaling 20 total runs while losing seven of their previous eight. Coco Crisp, Cliff Pennington and Ryan Sweeney each had three hits as the A's improved to 7-16 in June.

"The collective effort is what we need for this ballclub to win games," said Crisp, 7 for 19 in the five total games after enduring two stints on the disabled list in his first season with the A's.

Pennington is 20 for 42 in his last 13 games.

Looking to win two straight for the first time since May 28-29, the A's face Pittsburgh's Daniel McCutchen, who is expected to be called up from the minors to start Saturday.

McCutchen (0-2, 13.50) takes the spot of Zach Duke, who is expected to miss at least two more starts with an elbow strain. The right-hander, 4-5 with a 3.86 ERA in 10 starts at Triple-A Indianapolis, hasn't gone more than four innings in any of his three major league starts in 2010.

Pittsburgh pitchers have a 6.58 ERA during its current road losing streak.

The Pirates are likely to be without rookie second baseman Neil Walker, who had three hits with a homer Friday but left the game after it appeared he got hit in the back of the head by teammate Ryan Church's knee as they chased a foul ball.

"He got banged in the head pretty good," Pittsburgh manager John Russell said. "But he got up and that's a good sign. We're hoping for the best."