SEATTLE — Tristan Peters’ phone didn’t stop buzzing in the hours after the Chicago White Sox outfielder’s epic three-run home run in the eighth inning of Sunday’s City Series game against the Cubs at Rate Field.
“I got a lot of texts,” he told the Tribune on Monday at T-Mobile Park. “It was pretty cool.”
The liner over the right-field wall against reliever Phil Maton briefly gave the Sox the lead. The Cubs tied it in the ninth on a three-run home run by Michael Conforto. But the Sox won it in the 10th, 9-8, with a two-run home run by Edgar Quero.
The game will rank among the more memorable City Series contests. And Peters’ home run, the first of his major-league career, will forever be part of that story.
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“It was amazing,” Peters said. “I was thinking more about how we could win the game, I didn’t even think about it being my first homer. It was electric. The crowd, too, it was awesome.”
Peters said the mindset, with a runner in scoring position, was on trying to get one run home.
“I was just trying to not do too much,” he said. “Even though my first swing probably looked like I was trying to hit a homer. The second one, I made an adjustment and tried to stay on top of the ball a little more.”
Peters connected for another home run in the seventh inning on Monday, the team’s only run in a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners.
“I faced (Mariners reliever Eduard) Bazardo actually last year,” Peters told reporters after Monday’s game. “So I kind of knew what to expect. I was watching (Jarred) Kelenic’s at-bat before me. He was throwing him a lot of sliders and curveballs. So I was like, he’s probably going to try to sneak in a heater.
“So I was sitting on his fastball and I got it right in the middle of the zone and tried to put my best swing on it.”
Peters had a .257/.319/.367 slash line with four doubles, one triple, two home runs and 12 RBIs in 44 games this season, entering Tuesday. He has displayed steady bunting skills. And now has showcased some pop.
“We feel like Tristan puts himself in a position to get good swings off pretty frequently,” manager Will Venable said before Monday’s game. “And I think some of these early-count swings that he’s had that look like he’s going to do damage, and then ends up battling, maybe missing the pitch, battling, and then two-strike approach puts the ball in play. But he’s hit some balls hard and he has that club in the bag.
“So really cool to see, on a good pitch that he’s able to catch out front. Obviously, (Sunday’s home run was) a huge swing for the group, a big swing for him. But we’ve seen those types of swings, so I’m not surprised that it’s in there.”
The Sox acquired Peters in an offseason trade with the Tampa Bay Rays on Dec. 18. He went 0-for-12 in four games with the Rays last season.
“Obviously, I’m thinking about those 12 at-bats throughout that whole offseason, but I’m glad I could get more here,” Peters told reporters after Sunday’s game.
Peters is making the most of his opportunity. That includes being one of the team’s top defensive outfielders.
“Right from day one in spring training, he was one of the guys, he came into camp with a good pre-pitch (setup) and something that he valued and then went to work with (outfield coach José Leger and major-league field coordinator Chris Denorfia) and just done a great job of continuing to work on his timing, work on his first-step quickness and it’s paying off in games,” Venable said before Sunday’s game.
Peters has spent most of his time this year in center field, but he also made a nice running catch in the fourth inning to deny Rob Refsnyder an extra-base hit while playing left field on Monday.
“I’m just trying to stay locked in, if I see a slider or something I’m going to kind of cheat to the pull-side or wherever the location of the pitch is, too,” Peters told the Tribune on Monday when discussing part of his defensive approach. “Just reading pitches, reading swings and then obviously knowing the positioning, too.”
Peters is also feeling “locked in” at the plate. He has a .288 average (19-for-66) in his last 25 games.
“I feel like my swing’s in a really good spot,” Peters said after Monday’s game. “I’ve been hitting the ball hard, some right at people in the last few games, but I think it’s clicking.”