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If there was any concern about whether the White Sox were finally ready to win a game without their pitching Jesus, Adam Eaton wiped that out.

And Eaton did it while the turnstiles were still humming with customers who would make up the Sox’s best home gate (34,526) since the season opener.

Alcides Escobar sliced the game’s first pitch down the right-field line. It was a liner of medium height, and Eaton closed on it — not to exaggerate — like Exaggerator at the Preakness.

“He knows how to position himself, how to slide and make catches,” Sox third baseman Todd Frazier said. “I’ll be honest with you, he’s the best right fielder I’ve played with.”

Said manager Robin Ventura: “He gets great jumps. Either on the line or going in the gaps, he just has a knack for it.”

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Eaton made the sliding grab and extended his right leg as he crashed into the mini-wall. This would not be Jason Heyward, Part II.

“I never had to worry about that in center,” Eaton said. “But in right you have to learn to go feet first and protect yourself.”

That was one of several fine plays by a defense that did all it could to support Carlos Rodon in the Sox’s 3-2 victory.

Rodon had pitched solidly, save for an April 18 game against the Angels, but this was just his second victory in nine starts. And heading into Sunday, the Sox had won two of their previous 10 games, going 0-8 when Chris Sale did not take the ball.

“The pitching part of it hasn’t really been the issue,” Ventura said. “Offensively, you need that hit that pops the balloon.”

It came from Melky Cabrera, who whacked a high fastball into center to drive in two runs in the fifth. Two batters earlier, Eaton was at the plate with runners on first and second.

He scalded a Yordano Ventura fastball to left-center, a potential bases-clearing double. Lorenzo Cain speared it, and Eaton showed his frustration by jumping to end his futile run to first base.

“When you hit a ball that hard, you want results,” Eaton said. “I really wanted to come through there for the team. But it’s baseball. I broke a bat later and got a hit. It’s a crazy game we play.”

Eaton was involved in a crazy incident with Yordano Ventura in 2015. Eaton hit a comebacker, and Ventura, rather than simply throw to first base, glared and barked at him. Next thing, the benches emptied and Jeff Samardzija was trying to throw haymakers.

“Funny you brought that up,” Frazier said. “I was watching the video before the game. Someone had it on and I said, ‘Oh, wow, pretty interesting.’ I remember the fight but I didn’t remember all the little details.”

Frazier didn’t know whether Eaton had derived extra motivation from the moment, saying: “I’m not him. But say you’re struggling against a guy who beats you up all the time. When you can get the guy out — or the other way around — it feels that much better.”

Eaton downplayed all of that, content with a victory that advanced his place as the game’s top defensive right fielder and saddled Ventura (4-3) with a loss.

“I don’t care if my mother is up there pitching,” Eaton said. “I want to try to get a hit off her.”

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Twitter @TeddyGreenstein

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