KANSAS CITY — Cincinnati Reds teammates hung around in the dugout after the game and chanted Ricky Karcher’s name after the kid with the big arm and the bigger minor-league ERA survived a wild big-league debut to close out the Kansas City Royals Monday night.
“Ricky’s an awesome dude,” said TJ Friedl, the guy who scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th before Karcher’s cardiac bottom half of the inning – on a night he was the only available reliever left.
“Moments like that, in a win like that, with so much back and forth – everyone’s just energetic and rooting him on,” Friedl said.