ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — JP Sears navigated through trouble and carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning Thursday in the Oakland Athletics' game against the World Series champion Texas Rangers.
Sears faced nine batters with runners on base after issuing leadoff walks in the first, second and fifth innings. But the 28-year-old left-hander — and Oakland — emerged unscathed in a 1-0, one-hit win over Texas, a possible sign that these A's are different from those who have piled up losses in record fashion in recent seasons.
“We’re just trying to win the day every day,” said Sears, who left the game after allowing a one-out single to left field by Adolis García. “I think when you’re kind of counted out, it’s pretty easy to just kind of put your head down and work hard and just do your job.”
The A’s (5-8) closed out a 4-2 road trip to Detroit and Texas, taking two of three from last season's MLB champs. Last season, the Athletics won one road trip the entire season on the way to a franchise-worst 50-112 record. The 2022 A’s, who finished 60-102, didn’t win a single road trip.
“That’s a really good offense over there, World Series champions,” Sears said. “Any day that we get a win from them or get a series from them is awesome.”
Sears (1-1) had thrown 81 pitches through six innings. His career-high pitch count is 112, thrown in 4 2/3 inning on June 5, 2023, against Pittsburgh in a 5-4 loss.
Oakland manager Mark Kotsay kept a close watch on the pitch count, given the season is only weeks old.
“In the sixth at 80 pitches, you kind of get a good idea if this was going to happen it was probably going to be 100-plus,” Kotsay said. “And to do that early in the year, it would have put a lot of stress on him. But at the same point, you know the momentum of the game and the starter being dominant. I was really just waiting for that first hit. Adolis got that hit and made the decision pretty easy.”
Sears is the only starter back from the 2023 Oakland opening day rotation. He led the team with 32 starts, also with 14 losses with five wins. He tied for the fourth-most home runs allowed in the majors (34) and led the majors in hit batters (16). He struck out 161 in 172 1/3 innings last season and entered Thursday’s game with an 8.68 ERA.
“That start was great,” Kotsay said. “You could just see the composure today. When he did have a leadoff walk, he got back in the zone. That’s the type of maturation we’re looking for from these types of young starters, and he showed that today for sure.”
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Oakland Athletics pitcher JP Sears reacts after being pulled during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)
Oakland Athletics pitcher JP Sears (38) is greeted in the dugout after being pulled from a baseball game against the Texas Rangers during the seventh inning Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)
Oakland Athletics pitcher JP Sears throws against the Texas Rangers during the second inning of a baseball game Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)
WASHINGTON (AP) — After three straight hotter-than-expected inflation reports, Federal Reserve officials have turned more cautious about the prospect of interest rate cuts this year. The big question, after they end their latest policy meeting Wednesday, will be: Will they still signal rate cuts at all this year?
Wall Street traders now envision just a single rate cut this year to the Fed's benchmark rate, now at a 23-year high of 5.3% after 11 hikes that ended last July. Traders have sharply downgraded their expectations since 2024 began, when they had expected up to six rate cuts.
As recently as the Fed's last meeting March 20, the policymakers themselves had projected three rate reductions in 2024. Rate cuts by the Fed would lead, over time, to lower borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, including for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards.
Most economists say they still expect two cuts this year. But many acknowledge that one or even no rate reductions are possible. The reason is that elevated inflation is proving more persistent than almost anyone had expected. According to the Fed's preferred gauge, inflation reached a 4.4% annual rate in the first three months of this year, up from 1.6% in the final quarter of 2023 and far above the Fed's 2% target.
At the same time, the economy is healthier and hiring is stronger than most economists thought it would be at this point. The unemployment rate has remained below 4% for more than two years, the longest such streak since the 1960s. During the first quarter of the year, consumers spent at a robust pace. As a result, Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials have made clear that they are in no hurry to cut their benchmark rate.
In his most recent remarks two weeks ago, Powell indicated that the pace of price increases had essentially undercut Fed officials' confidence that inflation was steadily heading back to their target, thereby making rate cuts anytime soon less likely. He also said the Fed would forgo any rate cuts as long as inflation remained elevated. He stopped short, though, of suggesting that any new rate increases were under consideration.
“If higher inflation does persist,” the Fed chair said, “we can maintain the current level of (interest rates) for as long as needed.”
Most economists expect Powell to reinforce that message during the news conference he will hold after the Fed's meeting ends Wednesday. But he could go still further.
During his last news conference in March, for example, Powell said the Fed's rate was “likely at its peak” and that, “if the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate” to start cutting rates this year.
If Powell avoids repeating that sentiment this time, it could suggest that the Fed is less likely to reduce its benchmark rate this year.
“If that (message) is dropped, I think it would be a much stronger signal that we have to hold rates higher for longer,” said Jonathan Pingle, chief economist at UBS.
Though economic growth reached just a 1.6% annual pace in the first three months of this year, a slowdown from the previous quarter, consumer spending grew at a robust pace, a sign that the economy will keep expanding.
That persistent strength has caused some Fed officials to speculate that the current level of interest rates may not be high enough to have the cooling effect on the economy and inflation that they need. If so, the Fed could even have to switch back to rate increases at some point.
“I continue to see the risk that at a future meeting we may need to increase (rates) further should progress on inflation stall or even reverse,” Michelle Bowman, a member of the Fed's Board of Governors, said in early April.
On Wednesday, the Fed may also announce that it's slowing the pace at which it unwinds one of its biggest COVID-era policies: Its purchase of several trillion dollars in Treasury securities and mortgage-backed bonds, an effort to stabilize financial markets and keep longer-term interest rates low.
The Fed is now allowing $95 billion of those securities to mature each month, without replacing them. Its holdings have fallen to about $7.4 trillion, down from $8.9 trillion in June 2022 when it began reducing them.
By cutting back its holdings, the Fed could contribute to keeping longer-term rates, including mortgage-rates, higher than they would be otherwise. That's because as it reduces its bond holdings, other buyers will have to buy the securities instead, and rates might have to rise to attract the needed buyers.
During its meeting in March, Fed official agreed to reduce the pace of its runoff to about $65 billion a month, according to the meeting minutes.
The Fed last reduced its balance sheet in 2019, and while doing so it inadvertently disrupted financial markets and caused short-term interest rates to spike that September. Its goal in slowing the pace at which it reduces its bond ownership is to avoid a similar market disruption by moving more methodically.
FILE - Federal Reserve Board chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, March 20, 2024. The Federal Reserve wraps up its two-day policy meeting Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Most analysts expect that the central bank will leave its benchmark borrowing rate alone for the sixth straight meeting. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
