CLEVELAND — Center fielder Adam Eaton crashed into the wall making a running catch during the sixth inning of the White Sox’ 10-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians Friday and had to be helped off the field after making a running catch on Roberto Perez’s fly ball.
Eaton will likely be out at least one game, although his status was unclear. He sprinted to the warning track to make the catch, led with his left (throwing) shoulder, and a good portion of his upper body also made hard contact with the wall, which is padded. He declined to talk to reporters after the game, looking somewhat woozy and moving around gingerly at his locker.
“He’s pretty banged up,’’ said manager Robin Ventura, who, along with trainer Herm Schneider, helped Eaton off the field. “He hit his hip and felt like he was locked up with his back. That’s why it took so long laying on the ground. There was everything in there. He hit it flush.’’
Eaton’s had snapped, too, as he made contact and was getting checked for a concussion, Ventura said.
A Gold Glove candidate who has excelled in right field, Eaton has scaled back somewhat from playing with reckless abandon this season but has run into the wall a few times.
“It was a great effort,’’ Ventura said. “Running into walls is like his specialty. He’s pretty good at it.’’
Staggering to the finish line
The Sox’ loss was their sixth in a row, their longest streak since they dropped seven from May 23-30. This one dropped them to 72-81, a season-worst nine games below .500 and officially eliminated them from the wild card to guarantee an eighth straight season without a postseason.
The carnage against the AL Central continued as well. They fell to 6-11 against the division leading Indians and to 29-42 against the Central, including 20-39 over the last 59 games.
Gonzalez, bullpen rocked
Three Sox pitchers on good runs ran into a buzz-saw. Right-hander Miguel Gonzalez was tagged for five runs (four earned) on eight hits over 4 1/3 innings, marking the fifth straight start through the Sox rotation without a quality start. Gonzalez had the last one last Saturday in Kansas City. The Sox are second in AL with 88 quality starts.
Gonzalez was 3-4 with a 2.72 ERA over his previous 11 starts, the ERA ranking fifth during that stretch among AL pitchers with 66 innings or more.
Right-hander Juan Minaya and lefty Dan Jennings gave up two and three runs, respectively, after Gonzalez’s exit. Minaya was the first Sox reliever to begin his career with seven scoreless appearances since Sergio Santos had 12 in 2010. Jennings’ 1.68 ERA going in was the lowest by a Sox reliever since Damaso Marte posted a 1.58 mark in 2003.
This and that
Melky Cabrera hit his 13th home run to give the Sox a 2-0 lead in the first and Avisail Garcia hit a two-run homer near the right field foul pole (his 12th) to give the Sox a 4-2 lead in the fifth.
*Tyler Saladino was a late scratch with back discomfort. Hector Sanchez played second base in his place.
*Shortstop Tim Anderson tripled and singled for his 30th multi-hit game.
