OAKLAND -- For Dylan Covey, banners and bunting might as well have been draped around the Coliseum, and the singing of the National Anthem should have been punctuated by a flyover. Because for him, Saturday’s game against the Athletics represented his personal World Series.

Starting against the team that launched his professional career motivated Covey to no end. He spoke of “really, really, really wanting to beat this team.” Unfortunately for the 27-year-old right-hander, he couldn’t channel his emotion into excellence.

Fresh off a right shoulder injury, Covey lasted only two-thirds of an inning and yielded six runs in Oakland’s seven-run first inning that propelled the A’s past the White Sox, 13-2.

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Covey, plucked from the A’s organization by the White Sox in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft, faced a lineup featuring numerous ex-teammates, including Matt Chapman, Matt Olson and Franklin Barreto. The mere sight of the lineup card wasn’t all that fueled Covey’s drive. The White Sox activated him from the injured list to make this start, giving him a perceived physical boost.

“Physically, I think that’s the only positive about today,” Covey said.

Instead of dominating the A’s, Covey quickly was dominated. Marcus Semien and Chapman drilled consecutive doubles to begin the bottom of the first. Olson walked. Khris Davis lifted a catchable foul popup, but the ball vanished in the brilliant Western sky and fell to earth untouched. “I just looked up and it was all sun. I had no idea where the ball was,” White Sox first baseman AJ Reed said. Davis ultimately walked to load the bases.

Covey recovered to strike out Mark Canha before Robbie Grossman smacked a two-run single. Two batters later, White Sox manager Rick Renteria excused Covey, wary of elevating his pitch count so soon after his recovery from the shoulder ailment.

“Once he got over 30 pitches [he threw 32], it makes no sense for us to try to push it,” Renteria said. “I would have felt bad if I left him out there and it flared up again.”

Covey confessed that he had overdosed on his own adrenaline.

“That feeling of feeling really good and really powerful, and then wanting the game so bad, kind of led me to getting out of rhythm a little bit,” Covey said. “Four-seamers were kind of leaking back over the middle, which is something they haven’t been doing. I was just a little too amped up, trying to do too much.”

Asked if he thought the inning might have turned in Covey’s favor had Reed somehow caught the cornea-searing popup, Renteria refused the chance to manufacture an excuse.

“The truth is, pitchers work through situations like that all the time,” Renteria said. “You still have to continue to execute.”

Nor did Renteria try to explain away another one-sided loss to the A’s, who have outscored the White Sox 18-3 in this series. The A’s have been particularly rough on Chicago, which owns a 3-12 record against Oakland since 2017. That includes a 1-7 mark in Oakland.

“These are probably two of the worst games, looking back-to-back, that I can remember for us,” Renteria said. “For me, it has nothing to do with coming out of the [All-Star] break. That’s a good club and they’re showing us they’re a good club.”