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It was a very emotional night on Monday for Cleveland Guardians reliever Nic Enright. Enright earned his first career save, after Cleveland defeated the New York Mets 7-6. Enright, who is battling cancer, opened up about what that moment meant to him.
“I made the decision when I was diagnosed in 2022 with Hodgkin lymphoma that I wasn't going to let that define my life and dictate how I was going to go about my life,” Enright said, per the Associated Press. “It's something where, for anyone else who is going through anything similar, [it shows] I haven't just holed up in my house and felt sorry for myself this whole time.”
Enright's manager says that the moment was quite moving.
“He was almost crying on the field just now,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “If you read his story, it's pretty inspirational.”
Enright now has a 2.01 earned run average this season. Enright is getting a chance to work as closer, after Emmanuel Clase was placed under paid leave by Major League Baseball. A gambling investigation is underway against Clase.
The Guardians are now 57-55 on the season, following the victory.
The Guardians are fighting for a berth in the MLB Playoffs
Cleveland is fighting to stay in second place in the American League Central this year. The Guardians are behind the Detroit Tigers, who sit in first.
The Guardians reliever Enright allowed an unearned run in Monday's game, in the bottom of the 10th. It was enough for him to post the save. With the victory, Cleveland has now won six of their last 10 games.
“Really, really cool,” Enright said. “These last couple of years, especially, I've gone through a lot of adversity and just everything that's gone on. And so for me, it's being able to reflect on those in these moments. I think that helps being able to slow the game down. Because it hasn't exactly been a red-carpet rollout for my career trajectory.”
Enright's teammates also got involved in the celebration after the game.
“I was so happy. Oh, I was going nuts in here,” Guardians starting pitcher Slade Cecconi said. “I was going absolutely berserk. He came in running up the stairs, smile on his face.”
The Guardians next play the Mets again on Tuesday night.
