OAKLAND -- JP Sears had been nothing short of impressive since joining the A’s, emerging as arguably their most consistent starter over the past month. That’s what made Thursday night peculiar.

In a 14-2 loss to the White Sox at the Coliseum, Sears was rocked by a potent Chicago offense that was unrelenting in its attack. The 26-year-old rookie turned in by far the worst start of his young career, allowing six runs on eight hits and a walk before getting pulled after completing just two innings.

• Box score

For the first time at any level of baseball in 2022, Sears had his first “off” night. Prior to this rough outing, the left-hander had never allowed more than three runs in 24 combined games (17 starts) between Triple-A and the Major Leagues with both the Yankees and A’s.

“I’ve had a lot of ups and not too many downs,” Sears said. “This is a down. As a young player, it’s never fun. The next start will feel like it takes forever to get here. After tonight, tomorrow will just be head down working and trying to get better. See what I can improve so I go out there next time and be ready to get after it.”

Nothing appeared to be physically wrong with Sears, as his average fastball velocity of 92.8 mph wasn’t too far off from his season average of 93.3. He was able to pound the zone like he normally does -- 40 of his 59 pitches were thrown for strikes. So what gives?

For A’s manager Mark Kotsay, there was a real possibility of Sears tipping pitches based on the stark contrast in this performance compared to how he’s looked all season.

“You look at the previous starts and he hasn’t been hit like that,” Kotsay said. “This game gets difficult at this level because of the advanced scouting and the advancement in video.

“Sometimes teams find nuances. Tonight, I truly feel like [the White Sox] may have had an advantage with knowing what was coming to a certain extent, and that’s part of the game. They’ve still got to hit it, which they did. But we’re going to dive deep into seeing if Sears was tipping his pitches.”

It certainly didn’t seem like the White Sox were fooled by any of Sears’ pitches. Of the 11 balls hit in play against him, eight registered an exit velocity of 99.3 mph or harder off the bat. Three of those left the yard, including back-to-back home runs by Elvis Andrus and Yoán Moncada to lead off the game.

“We definitely saw something that could have led to the results,” Kotsay said. “It definitely makes it easier at this level when you know a changeup or fastball is coming. But that’s also a good hitting team and they’re playing really well. They’ve got talent in that lineup that can do damage.”

Sears didn’t give too much thought to whether he may have been tipping his pitches, mainly pointing to his lack of execution in certain situations as what led to his quick downfall.

There is also the fact that the White Sox offense is particularly explosive against lefties in general. Entering Thursday’s contest, Chicago’s .274 team batting average against left-handers this season ranked second-highest in the Majors behind only the Rockies (.280).

“Tonight was just not a good night,” Sears said. “Their offense came out swinging and they were on their stuff. I just missed some fastballs over the middle of the plate and they put some good swings on balls I should have put in a better spot. Props to them for coming out swinging it.”

With a start this unpleasant, pitchers sometimes might choose to forego any film study and just wash it away. Sears, however, said he’ll watch this one over in advance of his next start and search for areas of improvement, as well as finding anything he might have done well.

“I look at things I could have done better as far as pitch selection in counts and overall approach to certain hitters where I choose to be aggressive and less aggressive,” Sears said. “I’ll do a lot of evaluating and see some things I can get better on.”