Pity the poor A’s fan. Even when Oakland stitches together an impressive, wire-to-wire outing — strong pitching, plentiful hitting, spotless defense — the specter of trade talk lingers in the background, heavy and foreboding.
Sonny Gray and Jed Lowrie played central roles in Wednesday’s 7-4 victory over Chicago at the Coliseum. Gray smothered the White Sox over six innings and Lowrie rapped out three singles and collected two RBIs.
It’s impossible to laud Gray and Lowrie, of course, without mentioning this slice of reality: They both could find themselves headed out of town by month’s end.