The month of September has started quite weirdly for Guardian pitchers. It started off with Zach Plesac making the headlines on September 3rd, for punching a pitching mound out of frustration and breaking his hand. Continuing the same streak is the righty pitcher, James Karinchak, who witnessed an extremely weird substance check when Cleveland Guardians took on the Minnesota Twins.

Karinchak, who grew up as a Yankee fan, made his MLB debut with Cleveland Guardians against the Minnesota Twins on September 14, 2019. Since then, he’s played 118 games and bowled at 3.04 with 183 strikeouts. 2022 has been another splendid season for the Guardians bullpen who have barely conceded anything. Excessive credit for that should go to Karinchak, who has pitched at a solid 1.63 with 44 strikeouts.

James Karinchak witnesses the most absurd substance check

While the Guardians went on to win the game, thanks to the Twins’ manager Rocco Baldelli, Karinchak had to face something extremely peculiar in the middle of the innings. During the eight innings of the game, Baldelli approached the umpire to check opposition pitcher Karinchak for foreign substances.

Throughout the game, Karinchak kept fidgeting with his hair. For that reason, Baldelli suspected Karinchak of cheating. He approached the umpire and asked him to conduct a substance check. The umpire walked out to the field mid-innings and approached Karinchak for the check. He complied and calmly allowed the check to continue as a protocol.

READ MORE: Guardians Pitcher Zach Plesac Humorlessly Breaks His Hand After Punching the Mound in Frustration

All in all, an incident like this must be extremely embarrassing for an esteemed manager like, Rocco Baldelli. At the same time, it must’ve been extremely infuriating for the Guardians’ management.

What next for Cleveland Guardians?

While the Cleveland pitchers are at the receiving end of unfortunate incidents, the team as a whole has done particularly well. Correspondingly, the Cleveland Guardians are currently resting at the top of the American League Central Division at 0.526 with 72 wins and 65 losses. However, they shouldn’t be getting too comfortable as the White Sox are closing in at 0.514.

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Will the Cleveland Guardians break the two-year streak and successfully remain at the top and make the postseason? What do you think?