(AUDACY) Indians reliever James Karinchak earned his seventh save of the season in his team's 6-5 win against the White Sox on Tuesday evening, but it wasn't easy. Karinchak had to go through eight batters to get the job done, barely holding a lead that had been trimmed to one run when he got White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu to ground out to end it.
Karinchak averted the crisis -- but not without raising some suspicion. White Sox color analyst Steve Stone called out Karinchak for what seemed to be the use of a sticky substance in his glove, an act that would surprise absolutely no one in today's game but could still be worthy of reprimand.
This isn't the first time that Karinchak has been the subject of suspicion, though the previous sleuths weren't opposing broadcasters. Instead, Twitter detectives were raising their eyebrows at a motion he kept repeating as he went to his glove in another Cleveland-Chicago matchup (h/t Tony Marchese of On Tap Sports Net).
If there's anything going on there, it sure doesn't seem to be helping Karinchak after his insanely strong start to the year. After allowing zero runs and striking out 22 batters in 12 appearances throughout April, Karinchak's ERA since is 5.14, bringing his season ERA to 2.92.
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