When an Oakland batter thought Dylan Cease’s pitches were going to break right, the ball veered left. Fastballs turned into sliders. Sliders slowed into curveballs. Curveballs were actually fastballs. The A’s just could not figure out what the White Sox ace was going to throw. In a showing that was more reminiscent of their frigid first half than their scorching hot second half, the A’s dropped a second straight game at the White Sox ballpark, this time by a score of 4-1.
After looking like they were trying to use pool noodles to get the baseball into the outfield, the A’s have spent July doing their collective best impression of Aaron Judge. Oakland hit 36 home runs total in May and June before somehow developing the power needed to jack that many homers in just one month. Early on, the A’s appeared to be headed toward another offensive explosion.
Ramon Laureano’s second inning solo home run travelled over 400 feet, and was so well-struck that the A’s center fielder could take a few moments to admire his work before rounding the bases. Cease was fortunate to only allow that one run in the second, because Seth Brown and Stephen Piscotty both had long fly balls go a few feet foul of being round-trippers.
