Abreu on missed chance to tag up: 'I feel bad'
Renteria to miss weekend series for surgery; Nova in family 'feud'
CLEVELAND -- Jose Abreu took full responsibility for a baserunning gaffe in Wednesday’s 8-6 loss to the Indians, which cost the White Sox a run in their ninth-inning rally, but certainly didn’t cost them the game.
Abreu was on third with the bases loaded and one out, when Eloy Jimenez laced a Nick Wittgren fastball to center, looking to all like a three-run double. But center-fielder Oscar Mercado made a spectacular catch. In the process, Abreu failed to tag at third.
By the time Abreu saw the catch and returned to the base, it was too late. He apologized to White Sox manager Rick Renteria, to third-base coach Nick Capra, who was telling Abreu to tag and to Jimenez for costing him one more RBI.
“It was my mistake. It was my mistake,” said Abreu through interpreter Billy Russo prior to Thursday afternoon’s 7-1 White Sox win over the Indians in the series finale at Progressive Field. “I got too excited because I never thought that Mercado had a chance to catch that ball. I got too excited, and that cost us a run.
“I feel bad. I apologized to Eloy, I apologized to Ricky. That was the right thing to do because when you make a mistake like that, you are costing one of your teammates some stats. I apologized to all of them. I misplayed that particular play.”
After playing in 138 of 139 games this season, Abreu got the day off on Thursday. He smiled and said he was OK with it, even though he wants to play every day. Renteria called it a well-deserved day off and he was adamant that the decision had nothing to do with the baserunning miscue.
“No, not at all. Why anybody would assume that is beyond me. We talked about today’s day off before yesterday. Had nothing to do with that,” Renteria said. “It’s one of those plays where the ball off the bat, when an outfielder literally turns his back to you, there is a good chance he’s not catching a ball.
“We can make assumptions. Everybody in the world, including our baserunners, thought that ball wasn’t going to be caught. That being said, when [Abreu] started to describe the play, he said he was looking back at the runners behind him and started getting off the base.
“Then [he] got into no man’s land, he got so far out just making sure he was looking at the play, he didn’t realize he got so far off the base to be able to retag,” Renteria said. “But if it’s done the way you want it to be done, that’s not the easiest read to make. Again, we didn’t score that run, but we needed three.”
Renteria out this weekend
Renteria will miss this weekend’s home series against the Angels to have surgery on his right rotator cuff. He hopes to return for Tuesday’s series opener at Guaranteed Rate Field against the Royals.
Bench coach Joe McEwing will serve as acting manager in Renteria's absence.
“I planned on doing [the surgery] in the offseason,” Renteria said. “But it's getting a little worse.”
Renteria missed three games last season when his mom passed away, and he was out from Aug. 20-23 after experiencing lightheadedness.
Nova/Reyes a family affair
White Sox starter Ivan Nova had the upper hand in head-to-head battles with his cousin Franmil Reyes until the two met up on Tuesday night. Reyes connected for a two-run homer off the veteran right-hander, causing many of their family members to contact Nova after the game.
“Everybody was calling me from home. I was like, ‘Leave me alone. I just lost a game,’” said a smiling Nova. “He said, ‘I’m sorry. I got to crush you because you beat me last time.’
“I said, ‘OK, you won right now, but I will see you again.’ He was laughing. I told him you are lucky we don’t have to face you anymore because I would have hit you.”
The two actually could meet again in the second-to-last home series for the White Sox (Sept. 24-26). Nova and Reyes are very close, and Nova has been a guiding force to his younger cousin.
“It’s way different than last year. He’s a guy you have to be really careful with now,” Nova said. “When he figures it out, how to hit more base hits -- everybody wants to hit home runs, but I feel like every time he put a good swing on a ball, it’s going to be a home run.”
Senior Reporter Scott Merkin has covered the White Sox for MLB.com since 2003.