With Los Angeles Angels sluggers Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon and Albert Pujols due up in the ninth inning and a one-run lead to protect on Tuesday night, Diamondbacks reliever Stefan Crichton tried to remind himself to relax.
He also tried to prevent himself from doing something else.
“Don’t look at that person in the face,” Crichton recalled telling himself. “The second you look up, you’re like, ‘Holy crap, that’s Mike Trout,’ or ‘That’s Albert Pujols.’”
Crichton’s approach seemed to worked well. He retired the side in order for his second save.
In the parlance of manager Torey Lovullo, Crichton might not be anointed the title of Diamondbacks’ “closer” quite yet.