There he is! There's the hyped-up James Karinchak we've grown to know.
Karinchak took the mound with a one-run lead in the eighth inning and the Cleveland Guardians asked him to hold onto the score so that Emmanuel Clase could close it out in the ninth.
However, he gave up a lead-off triple after Myles Straw made a rare mistake and misplayed the ball in center field. With a runner on third and the Yankees in the heart of the order, Karinchak was in some trouble.
He played his cards perfectly though. He was able to get Aaron Judge to check-swing pop out and then proceeded to strike out Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton. Needless to say, Karinchak was pumped as he left the mound!
Karinchak ran up to his catcher Mike Zunino and hugged him so hard that he lost his mask.
Zunino hilariously said after the game that Karinchak's celebration was, "worthy!" He went on to say,
"I'm happy I had gear on, that's for sure! No, I mean I love it. Guys that play with emotion, guys that pitch with emotion, the key is to balance it so that's well deserved. That was a huge outing there and going through that part of the lineup and getting those outs was really the difference in the game."
Watch the rest of Zunino's press conference here:
In all seriosness, this inning could be a turning point for Karinchak in this young season. He's had a rough first couple of weeks as he works to find command of his pitches, but Karinchak had it tonight.
Karinchak survived the eighth inning with a runner on third, going through the heart of the New York Yankees, and preserving Cleveland's one-run lead. That deserves a job well done!
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