Jose Abreu’s weekend began with a scary collision. It ended with a daring play on the bases to steal a 4-3 White Sox win Sunday over the Royals and further cement his place in franchise lore.
The Sox tied the game in the ninth with a Yoan Moncada single off Wade Davis. Moncada advanced to second base when Abreu was hit by a Davis pitch, but was subsequently thrown out at home by Kansas City’s Whit Merrifield on a Yermin Mercedes single to keep the game even at 3.
Abreu had reached third, and when Davis spiked a knuckle curve to Yasmani Grandal, the 2020 American League MVP scampered home. Kansas City catcher Cam Gallagher retrieved the ball and dove to tag Abreu. Home plate umpire Edwin Moscoso called Abreu safe, and the call was upheld after review to give the Sox a split of the four-game series.
Abreu wasn’t available to the media Sunday.
The last moment of Sunday’s game wrapped up an eventful three days for Abreu, whose teammates lauded him all weekend for his toughness, leadership and resilience. Knocked down Friday when he collided with the Royals’ Hunter Dozier, he missed the second half of that day’s doubleheader, somehow recovered in time to play Saturday and homered, then added two more hits Sunday before using his legs and brain to deliver the Sox a win.
“We were talking about all his attributes,” manager Tony La Russa said. “Now you have to add outstanding instinctive baserunning. It’s a great play.”
Royals manager Mike Matheny wasn’t quite in the same mood. He said he saw two different camera angles that showed Gallagher tagged Abreu in time, and questioned the replay system.
“A game that hard-fought and they’ve got that much time and from appearances looks like they don’t want to bring them back on the field with this crowd,” Matheny said. “It’s just wrong and something needs to be done about it.”
The Sox found little wrong with Abreu. Then again, the last three days only confirmed what they knew about him.
Outfielder Adam Eaton, whose two-run homer in the fifth gave the Sox a 2-1 lead, said he didn’t need to see this weekend to know what kind of person Abreu is. He also raises the bar for his teammates.
“There’s a standard here, and he is the standard,” Eaton said. “If you don’t meet that standard, you’re going to glare. That’s a beautiful thing. Everyone’s got to get up to that standard and play at a high intensity.”
Abreu and the Sox chose a good time to live up to that standard.
They entered the bottom of the ninth inning three outs away from losing three of four to a team that began the series on an 11-game losing streak. The bullpen couldn’t hold a lead Sunday for Dylan Cease, and the offense didn’t take advantage of late chances to tie the game or get out in front.
Until the ninth, when the Sox pulled out a win to end a 5-2 homestand and picked up the kind of victory Eaton said he loves to see.
“If you continue to grind, continue to go out there and be productive and have a no give-in attitude, wash this game and go onto the next, it shows the character of the clubhouse,” Eaton said.
The Sox aren’t shy about saying where they get their character. La Russa compared Abreu to another first baseman he knows well.
“What’s the highest compliment I can give him?” La Russa asked. “He stands right next to Albert [Pujols] for me.”
