Craig Counsell just learned the hard way that greener pastures might actually be the shade donned by the Oakland A’s. After abandoning the Milwaukee Brewers this offseason for a lucrative and perceived higher-upside gig with the NL Central-rival Chicago Cubs, Counsell’s team helped his former team lock up the division on Wednesday with a disastrous loss at Wrigley Field to the Athletics.
The loss itself to a team that, although they’ve been much better since the All-Star break, has been so downtrodden is bad in itself. But the manner it happened was even worse.
Despite falling behind 1-0 in the fourth inning, the Cubs responded in the fifth with a three-run explosion that gave them the lead, one that should’ve been enough for a team with the investment of Chicago to be able to hold onto. Instead, Drew Smyly coughed up that lead in the seventh inning, leaving it tied 3-3, before Nate Pearson failed to hold serve in the eighth, giving Oakland the two-run lead and eventually the 5-3 victory…