CHICAGO (AP) — The White Sox won back-to-back games for the first time in nearly three months, beating the Oakland Athletics 4-3 on Sunday behind home runs from Gavin Sheets and Bryan Ramos to end a streak of 20 consecutive series losses.
A day after scoring in the ninth to win 7-6 and stop a 16-game home losing streak, the White Sox took a 3-0 first-inning lead and strung together wins for the first time since three in a row against Atlanta and Colorado from June 27-29. Chicago, which won two of three against the A's. hadn’t won a series since taking two of three from the Rockies.
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CHICAGO (AP) — The White Sox won back-to-back games for the first time in nearly three months, beating the Oakland Athletics 4-3 on Sunday behind home runs from Gavin Sheets and Bryan Ramos to end a streak of 20 consecutive series losses.
Oakland Athletics' Brent Rooker celebrates with teammates after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Oakland Athletics' Max Schuemann looks at his bat after striking out swinging during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Oakland Athletics' Shea Langeliers rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Oakland Athletics' Brent Rooker hits a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Fans try to grab a two-run home run ball hit by Oakland Athletics' Brent Rooker as Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. (88) watches during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago White Sox's Bryan Ramos, left, celebrates with first base coach Jason Bourgeois, right, after he walked to first during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago White Sox's Bryan Ramos, left, celebrates with Gavin Sheets after the White Sox defeated the Oakland Athletics in a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
“If there’s one thing we’ve learned it’s you can’t take big league wins for granted,” Sheets said. “To get back-to-back wins and get a series win, it feels really good. We have to enjoy these times and keep it going.”
Chicago is 35-115 with 12 games left and is trying to avoid the post-1900 record of 120 losses by the 1962 expansion New York Mets. The White Sox are 20-58 at home, one shy of the post-1900 mark for home losses shared by the 1939 St. Louis Browns and 2019 Detroit Tigers.
“You play music, everybody is happy, making jokes. That’s a good feeling,” Ramos said.
Sean Burke (1-0) allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. The 24-year-old right-hander, making his first big league start and second appearance, struck out five and walked two.
Ramos and Lenyn Sosa had two hits apiece for the White Sox.
Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers homered for the Athletics (65-85). JJ Bleday and Nick Allen each had two hits.
JP Sears (11-11) gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings.
Andrew Vaughn’s RBI single and Sheets’ two-run homer built the early lead. Sheets has 10 homers after going deep in consecutive games.
Rooker hit his 37th homer, a two-run drive in the fifth, but Ramos boosted the lead with his sixth-inning homer.
“He continues to impress,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “You got to include this guy in the Silver Slugger conversation.”
Pinch hitter Shea Langeliers homered with two outs in the ninth off Fraser Ellard, his 26th. Allen then flied out, giving Ellard his first big league save.
“Offensively, we couldn’t scrap back,” Kotsay said. “Great swing by Lang in the ninth, but tough day, tough series for us.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: INF Yoán Moncada (left adductor strain) is expected to be activated from the injured list Monday at Anaheim. He has been on the injured list since April 10. Moncada was in the clubhouse after Sunday’s game.
UP NEXT
Athletics: RHP Joey Estes (7-7, 4.36 ERA) is set to start Monday’ night’s series opener against the Chicago Cubs and LHP Shota Imanaga (13-3, 3.03).
White Sox: RHP Jonathan Cannon (3-10, 4.56) is scheduled to pitch Monday night at the Los Angeles Angels, who start LHP Reid Detmers (4-6, 5.64).
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Sean Burke, right, wipes his face as Oakland Athletics' JJ Bleday, left, runs after hitting a double during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Oakland Athletics' Brent Rooker celebrates with teammates after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Oakland Athletics' Max Schuemann looks at his bat after striking out swinging during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Oakland Athletics' Shea Langeliers rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Oakland Athletics' Brent Rooker hits a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Fans try to grab a two-run home run ball hit by Oakland Athletics' Brent Rooker as Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. (88) watches during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago White Sox's Bryan Ramos, left, celebrates with first base coach Jason Bourgeois, right, after he walked to first during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago White Sox's Bryan Ramos, left, celebrates with Gavin Sheets after the White Sox defeated the Oakland Athletics in a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by an unusually large half-point, a dramatic shift after more than two years of high rates that helped tame inflation but also made borrowing painfully expensive for American consumers.
The rate cut, the Fed’s first in more than four years, reflects its new focus on bolstering the job market, which has shown clear signs of slowing. Coming just weeks before the presidential election, the Fed’s move also has the potential to scramble the economic landscape just as Americans prepare to vote.
The central bank’s action lowered its key rate to roughly 4.8%, down from a two-decade high of 5.3%, where it had stood for 14 months as it struggled to curb the worst inflation streak in four decades. Inflation has tumbled from a peak of 9.1% in mid-2022 to a three-year low of 2.5% in August, not far above the Fed’s 2% target.
The Fed’s policymakers also signaled that they expect to cut their key rate by an additional half-point in their final two meetings this year, in November and December. And they envision four more rate cuts in 2025 and two in 2026.
In a statement and in a news conference with Chair Jerome Powell, the Fed came closer than it has before to declaring victory over inflation.
“We know it is time to recalibrate our (interest rate) policy to something that’s more appropriate given the progress on inflation,” Powell said. "We’re not saying, ‘mission accomplished’ ... but I have to say, though, we’re encouraged by the progress that we have made.”
“The U.S. economy is in a good place," he added, "and our decision today is designed to keep it there.”
Though the central bank now believes inflation is largely defeated, many Americans remain upset with still-high prices for groceries, gas, rent and other necessities. Former President Donald Trump blames the Biden-Harris administration for sparking an inflationary surge. Vice President Kamala Harris, in turn, has charged that Trump’s promise to slap tariffs on all imports would raise prices for consumers even further.
Rate cuts by the Fed should, over time, lead to lower borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards, boosting Americans’ finances and supporting more spending and growth. Homeowners will be able to refinance mortgages at lower rates, saving on monthly payments, and even shift credit card debt to lower-cost personal loans or home equity lines. Businesses may also borrow and invest more. Average mortgage rates have already dropped to an 18-month low of 6.2%, according to Freddie Mac, spurring a jump in demand for refinancings.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” Laura Rosner-Warburton, senior economist of MarcoPolicy Perspectives, said of Wednesday's Fed move.
The additional rate cuts it indicated it will make, she said, will “prevent risks from building and the unemployment rate from rising. They are trying to keep the economy in good shape.”
In an updated set of projections, the policymakers collectively envision a faster drop in inflation than they did three months ago but also higher unemployment. They foresee their preferred inflation gauge falling to 2.3% by year’s end, from its current 2.5%, and to 2.1% by the end of 2025. And they now expect the unemployment rate to rise further this year, to 4.4%, from 4.2% now, and to remain there by the end of 2025. That’s above their previous forecasts of 4% for the end of this year and 4.2% for 2025.
Powell was pressed at his news conference about whether the Fed’s decision to cut its key rate by an unusually large half-point is an acknowledgement that it waited too long to begin reducing borrowing rates.
“We don’t think we’re behind,” he replied. “We think this is timely. But I think you can take this as a sign of our commitment not to get behind. We’re not seeing rising (unemployment) claims, not seeing rising layoffs, not hearing from companies that that’s something that’s going to happen.”
He added: “There is thinking that the time to support the labor market is when it’s strong and not when you begin to see the layoffs. We don’t think we need to see further loosening in labor market conditions to get inflation down to 2%.”
The Fed’s next policy meeting is Nov. 6-7 — immediately after the presidential election. By cutting rates this week, soon before the election, the Fed is risking attacks from Trump, who has argued that lowering rates now amounts to political interference. Yet Politico has reported that even some key Senate Republicans who were interviewed expressed support for a Fed rate cut this week.
Powell pushed back against any suggestion that the Fed shouldn't cut rates so close to an election.
“We’re not serving any politician, any political figure, any cause, any issue,” he said. "It’s just maximum employment and price stability on behalf of all Americans. And that’s how the other central banks are set up, too. It’s a good institutional arrangement, which has been good for the public, and I hope and strongly believe that it will continue.”
The Fed's move Wednesday reverses the inflation-fighting effort it engineered by raising its key rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023. Wage growth has since slowed, removing a potential source of inflationary pressure. And oil and gas prices are falling, a sign that inflation should continue to cool in the months ahead. Consumers are also pushing back against high prices, forcing such companies as Target and McDonald’s to dangle deals and discounts.
The Fed’s decision drew the first dissent from a member of its governing board since 2005. Michelle Bowman, a board member who has expressed concern in the past that inflation had not been fully defeated, said she would have preferred a quarter-point rate cut.
But the Fed's policymakers as a whole appear to recognize that after years of strong job growth, employers have slowed hiring, and the unemployment rate has risen nearly a full percentage point from its half-century low in April 2023 to a still-low 4.2%. Once unemployment rises that much, it tends to keep climbing.
At the same time, the officials and many economists have noted that the rise in unemployment this time largely reflects an influx of people seeking jobs — notably new immigrants and recent college graduates — rather than layoffs.
The Fed’s attention now is “preserving the health of the labor market and preventing unnecessary damage to the economy from a pretty restrictive (interest rate) stance,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.
AP Business Writers Alex Veiga in Los Angeles, Paul Wiseman in Washington and Stan Choe in New York contributed to this report.
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
FILE - The seal of The Federal Reserve System is seen during a news conference by Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell at the Federal Reserve Board Building on July 31, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
FILE - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell walks outside of the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park near Moran, Wyo., on Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo Amber Baesler, File)
FILE - The Federal Reserve is in Washington is shown on Nov. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - A detail of the Federal Reserve building in Washington is shown on Nov. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
