Montgomery, Teel Torch Athletics in First-Inning Explosion
Chicago put up six runs in the first inning and never looked back, handing Oakland a 9-1 beating on July 12. Braden Montgomery was the headliner, going 2-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBI, but the story of the night was how fast this game got away from the Athletics.
Oakland struck first — and that was about the extent of their good news. Shea Langeliers launched a 411-foot shot to left to put the Athletics up 1-0, and for a moment it looked like they might have something going. Then Chicago answered immediately. Sam Antonacci went back-to-back with a 398-foot homer to right to tie it, and the inning was just getting started. Kyle Teel followed with a single to right that scored Murakami and Vargas, pushing Chicago to 3-1. Then Montgomery ended the conversation: a 359-foot three-run shot to right that scored Benintendi and Teel, making it 6-1 before Oakland could blink. That Teel single was the decisive moment — win probability swung from 59% to 75% in Chicago's favor on that one swing, and Montgomery's homer slammed the door shut on any realistic comeback.
Noah Schultz did his part to keep it clean, going 5.0 innings and allowing just 1 earned run on 4 hits with 4 strikeouts and zero walks. Oakland's offense had nothing after Langeliers' first-inning shot. Jose Suarez struggled in relief for the Athletics, lasting just 1.2 innings, and the fifth inning turned into a full-on disaster for Oakland. Montgomery singled to left to score C. Montgomery and make it 7-1, Peters grounded into a fielder's choice that brought home Benintendi for the eighth run, and then Langeliers — who had been the hero in the first — threw the ball away on a steal attempt, allowing Teel to score the ninth. A wild pitch by Suarez on the same play sent Peters to third. It was the kind of inning that compounds misery.
Jordan Hicks added a pristine 1.0-inning relief appearance — no hits, no runs, 3 strikeouts — which looks like a statement from a bullpen that had nothing to prove at that point. Teel finished 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored, quietly one of the more complete lines in the box score. For Oakland, Langeliers' homer was the lone bright spot in an otherwise forgettable afternoon. The Athletics managed just 1 run on a day when Chicago's lineup looked locked in from the opening pitch, and it appears the damage was done so early that the game never had a pulse after the first inning.