With one sickening sight, getting that 15th victory for Tom Gorzelanny did not seem even slightly important to the Pirates.

Or anyone else at PNC Park last night.

Shortstop Jack Wilson was sent into an apparent seizure for about 30 seconds, then hospitalized after a head-to-head collision with second baseman Matt Kata in shallow center field in the sixth inning of the 7-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

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Today

• Game: Pirates (RHP Bryan Bullington 0-2, 6.00) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (starter to be announced this morning), 1:35 p.m., PNC Park.
• TV/Radio: FSN Pittsburgh, WPGB-FM (104.7).
• Key matchup: Bullington vs. every batter he faces. Opponents have batted .380, with 19 hits and two home runs in just 12 innings.
• Of note: The Pirates' three doubles last night gave them 320 for the season, matching the franchise record set in 2000. Only two other teams topped 300, including the 1925 World Series champions and the 1996 edition.

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Wilson was carted off the field and taken by ambulance to Allegheny General Hospital, where doctors performed a CAT scan and diagnosed Wilson with a concussion. He was kept overnight for observation but was speaking clearly to friends and family.

Wilson's agent, Page Odle, said Wilson had a brief phone conversation with his wife, Julie, shortly after arriving at the hospital, even managing to crack a joke.

There was no indication Wilson has any other injury.

It was the Pirates' ugliest head-to-head collision between teammates since the one between outfielders Dave Clark and Jacob Brumfield on July 25, 1995, at Three Rivers Stadium.

This was not as severe, to be sure, but it had no less a stunning impact on all who saw it, including the near-capacity crowd of 35,169 ...

St. Louis had Aaron Miles on second and a 5-3 lead with two outs in the sixth when So Taguchi bounced a ball up the middle. Wilson and Kata each went full-bore for the ball, but neither looked at the other and, once the ball got past them, the tops of their heads crashed.

Kata was fine, but Wilson collapsed to the grass, his right arm slightly breaking his fall. He lay on his side, his head awkwardly aloft as his eyes rolled back, as manager Jim Tracy and the athletic trainers sprinted to the outfield.

After seven minutes, Wilson was hoisted onto the cart and taken off the field to an uneasy applause.

"That was pretty scary, man," center fielder Nyjer Morgan said. "You don't see guys run into each other like that too often."

Certainly not in the infield.

Kata, who remained in the game and said afterward he had no health issues, explained that it was a simple matter of trying to keep Miles from scoring on what was going to be a single regardless.

"I'm sure Jack would tell you the same thing: We're just trying to keep the ball in the infield, and I thought we each had a chance at it," Kata said. "It's unfortunate that he got hurt."

And how did Kata bounce right up?

"Not to make light of this, but I've always been accused of being a little hard-headed."

It was greatly overshadowed, but Gorzelanny fell well short in his third and final bid to become the Pirates' first 15-game winner since Todd Ritchie in 1999. In his six innings, the Cardinals scored six times on 11 hits and three walks, ending Gorzelanny's season at 14-10.

"It's a shame, but he has everything to feel good about," Tracy said. "He had a tremendous season."

Gorzelanny appeared plenty peeved, and it had nothing to do with matching Ritchie.

"I'm more disappointed in the way I pitched these last couple games," he said. "My job is to contribute to my team winning, and I didn't do that. These kinds of performances shouldn't happen."

Two other developments on the eve of the season finale ...

Adam LaRoche was struck in the clavicle by a Randy Flores pitch in the eighth. LaRoche was OK, but St. Louis manager Tony La Russa, who has pushed Major League Baseball to automatically suspend pitchers who bean a batter, was visibly livid in the Cardinals' dugout. He lifted Flores immediately.

Catcher Ronny Paulino took a foul ball off the right kneecap in the ninth. He stayed in the game, but he will sit out the finale this afternoon.