SOX BEATEN, BUT EATON LIKES ENERGY
Nats RF: ‘It’s completely different than when I was there’
WASHINGTON — Nationals right fielder Adam Eaton doesn’t know what kind of fan reaction he’ll get when he returns to Guaranteed Rate Field on Monday.
‘‘I might get booed now,” said Eaton, whom the White Sox traded for right-handed pitching prospects Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning in December 2016.
Eaton recalls being stunned to hear a booing fan on Opening Day of 2016 when he took a called second strike during his first at-bat, so he knows anything is possible.
“I love them,” said Eaton, who played for the Sox from 2014 to 2016. “They’re very passionate fans. It’s all you can ask for.”
Fans might cheer him, though, just for bringing Giolito, the American League Pitcher of the Month for May, to the Sox. Giolito is a big reason why the team’s rebuild seems to be turning in the right direction.
“Glad to see those guys playing well; it would be good for the South Side,” Eaton said Wednesday before the Nats (28-33) turned back the Sox 6-4 on Trea Turner’s walk-off home run against Alex Colome for their ninth win in 11 games. “I’ll say this, just watching the team [Tuesday], it’s completely different than when I was there. All of them had real positive energy, everyone hustled — not saying we didn’t hustle — but I watch close. Even the last inning [losing 9-5], someone fouled off a 3-2 pitch with a runner on, and it was like, ‘Let’s go’ in the dugout. Everyone was clapping.”
Of course, clapping and energy will only get you so far. The Sox (29-32) wasted a bases-full, no-out opportunity against Anibal Sanchez in the second inning, made three errors, including two in the middle of the infield (Yolmer Sanchez on a ground ball and Tim Anderson on a pop-up — his 13th) and lost a second consecutive game after a 6-1 homestand.
Dylan Covey pitched five innings of tworun ball, and home runs by Jose Abreu and Welington Castillo in the eighth inning erased a 4-1 deficit. But in the end, the Sox set themselves up to lose.
“We didn’t help ourselves,” manager Rick Renteria said. “We dropped a fly ball. We got doubled off at third [Castillo in the second inning].”
After Anderson led off the ninth with a single, Renteria called for a sacrifice, but Ryan Cordell bunted into an easy forceout.
“That wasn’t a very good bunt in the ninth inning, right at the third baseman when they’re crashing, not a good situational bunt,” said Renteria, who thought Cordell could have reached base had he bunted to the right side. “There were a lot of things we can critique.”
Eaton, who was in the on-deck circle when Turner cleared the left-field fence, saw some good things in the Sox’ two losses here, though.
“There is really good energy over there, which is awesome,” Eaton said. “They’re all pulling in the right direction, and I know [Renteria] is not going to let it go the other way. When he took the job, I knew it was the direction they needed to go. It’s cool to see.’’
Not everyone pulled together in the right direction in 2016, when the Sox charged to a 2310 start before fading to a 78-84 finish. Eaton and Todd Frazier got into a clubhouse fight.
“We didn’t see eye to eye on a few things,” Eaton said. “What was funny was we were close in spring training, but the stresses of the season, after being the best team in baseball for six weeks, and then we started going down. Neither of us liked to lose, and things came to a head.”
That’s old history now. This current team doesn’t care to lose, either. So nothing has changed in that regard.
“When [Castillo] tied the game up on his homer, I was in [the clubhouse] screaming,” Covey said. “Super-pumped up to see that happen, just unfortunately didn’t go our way today. Move on to the next one.”