By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–Jake Arrieta, right at the top of the list of major league pitching performers since the beginning of the 2015 season, is almost back to form after a more than a month without a victory, and the hapless A’s got a firsthand look on Saturday at the transformation.

Arrieta went eight innings, allowing just three hits, in the Cubs 4-0 shutout of the A’s that has the two clubs headed in opposite directions. The A’s have lost seven of eight to fall a season-worst 14 games below .500, while the Cubs have won 16 of 22 to move a season-best 27 games above .500 for second time.

The most obvious sign of Arrieta’s reemergence is the seamless combination of his slider and his sinker, which A’s manager Bob Melvin lauded after the game. Given the control of those two pitches, Arrieta has become calculating in eschewing strikeouts for easier outs after a couple of pitches.

“Not worrying about strikeouts,” Arrieta said. “Those will come in big situations. Maybe a guy on third, a guy on second base, no outs, less than two, punchouts are more important. I’m trying to get through the middle innings.”

In his month long slump—after he won 28 of his 31 decisions spanning this season and last—Arrieta struggled to get through the middle of games, going 0-3 in five starts. Now according to the pitcher, he’s almost back to form, so dominant that he can decide how he retires the hitters he faces.

For the A’s, who have dropped the first two games of this series, and are only hitting .241 as a team at home this season, Arrieta’s return to form meant a very quiet afternoon for the Oakland offense. Yonder Alonso’s two-out double in the second inning rated as the high point on Saturday, and that preceded a strikeout of Marcus Semien that ended the inning.

Only one other A’s baserunner—Semien in the fifth—even reached second base against Arrieta and Travis Wood, who pitched the ninth for the Cubs.

The A’s had hoped that a return to the Coliseum after a rough road trip would signal a return to playing competitive baseball, but the A’s have been quiet in dropping the first two games of a 10-game home stand. In addition, the A’s were blindsided by the bizarre story of staffer Mike Henriques installing a hidden camera in the team’s weight room, likely to monitor injured Athletics work out habits. Henriques was suspended on Thursday when the camera was discovered.

At least the A’s looked resplendent in their 1981 throwback uniforms, which coincided with a celebration of the division-winning club under manager Billy Martin that year. The Cubs stepped up their uniform game as well on Saturday, sporting baby blue pinstripe uniforms from the same year.

On Sunday, the A’s look to avoid the sweep with Sean Manaea on the mound in a matchup with Chicago’s Kyle Hendricks.

NOTES: A’s starter Sonny Gray departed early on Saturday after experiencing discomfort in his upper forearm. Gray lobbied to remain in the game, but Melvin pulled his pitcher just to be cautious. Gray will be re-examined on Sunday in an attempt to determine if he will be available for his next start.