Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher James Karinchak has struggled for his club in the early going, but he got back on track with a huge eighth inning performance against the New York Yankees on Monday — and his pumped up celebration led to a hilarious response from catcher Mike Zunino.
“I’m happy I had gear on, that’s for sure,” Zunino laughed, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. “But, no, I love it. Guys that play with emotion, guys that pitch with emotion, the key is to balance it. But, I mean, 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.”
Karinchak was fired up to say the least after striking out Giancarlo Stanton with the tying run on base in a 3-2 game.
“He yelled and flexed his arms below his waist like a bodybuilder. He pounded his chest. He threw up his arms. He skipped sideways. And then he chest-bumped Zunino with so much vigor that the catcher’s mark went flying,” wrote Ryan Lewis on Tuesday.
Zunino’s mask didn’t stand a chance:
James Karinchak got PUMPED after striking Giancarlo Stanton out to end this threat pic.twitter.com/395Pn5PYgT
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 11, 2023
The Guardians went on to win the game after star closer Emmanuel Clase struck out two in the ninth to help Cleveland improve to 7-4 on the campaign.
It was an important bounce back for Karinchak after he gave up a three-run home run on Opening Day, followed by a few more tough innings that led to a 9.00 ERA heading into Monday’s game.
After giving up a triple to Gleyber Torres to begin the eighth frame, Karinchak buckled down, retiring Aaron Judge on a pop-out, and Anthony Rizzo and Stanton on strikeouts to escape the inning.
“He doesn’t have a shortage of stuff,” Mike Zunino said, per the Journal. “Once he trusts it and starts mixing everything like he’s been doing, I think he’ll get in a groove and pick up some huge innings for us.”
Cleveland will be back in action against New York on Tuesday.
“Those are the moments you live for,” Guardians’ James Karinchak said.
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