CLEVELAND -- James Karinchak put on the perfect display of what it means to bend but not break.

The Indians entered the ninth inning against the White Sox on Tuesday night with a three-run lead and Karinchak running in from the bullpen. Although it would seem as though Cleveland would be safe with that scenario, Karinchak soon found himself in a predicament with the bases loaded and two outs with only a one-run lead. All that matters to the Indians is that he was able to escape the jam and hand his team a 6-5 victory at Progressive Field.

“Me and [pitching coach] Carl [Willis] were laughing,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “I was like, 'I think I like baseball, but I'm not sure.' It's a little agonizing.”

The Indians have all the confidence in the world in Karinchak, who’s been a high-leverage guy out of the bullpen all season. He’s posted eye-popping numbers, entering his most recent outing in the 99th percentile for strikeout percentage, 97th percentile in expected batting average and the 94th percentile in whiff percentage. But over his past few outings, he hasn’t quite looked as sharp.

Karinchak has permitted seven earned runs in his past four-plus innings (15.75 ERA) after being nearly perfect leading up to that point, owning a 0.44 ERA in his first 21 appearances. But on the heels of a loss on Monday, having permitted three runs (two earned) in extra innings against the White Sox, he ran into trouble again on Tuesday.

Four singles, a wild pitch and a walk ended up cutting a three-run lead to one and left the bases loaded with two outs for reigning AL MVP José Abreu.

“That's probably the last guy you want to see up there hitting,” Francona said.

Abreu was responsible for the go-ahead run on Monday, lifting a sacrifice fly to left field. But this time, he fell victim to Karinchak’s heater, grounding out to shortstop on a 2-0 pitch to end the game.

“Tonight was a test for him, and he passed it,” Indians starter Shane Bieber said. “He did an awesome job not letting it get to him. Ultimately, we ended up with a W and I think that’s what’s most important. Everybody realizes that, including him. Down the road, I think these kinds of outings can be beneficial.”

The Indians (30-24) have one-third of their season behind them, as the team sits just 2 1/2 games behind the first-place White Sox (33-22) in the American League Central. To remain in contention, Cleveland will need its bullpen to stay strong for the remainder of the year, and a lot of that responsibility falls on high-leverage guys like Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase.

Karinchak was nearly untouchable to start the year, giving up just three hits with 38 strikeouts in his first 20 2/3 innings. But that pace is far from sustainable. The longer the righty is in the big leagues, the more hitters will adjust to his stuff, which is what he’s run into over his past few outings. Now it’s up to him to continue to figure out how to remain just as lethal in relief.

“He was obviously punching the world out earlier in the year, and now he's kind of figuring out how to get guys out if they're going to put the ball in play,” Indians backstop Austin Hedges said. “Which is good, you know? It's going to happen. When you have such good stuff, guys are going to start preparing more for you. … Now it's his turn to make an adjustment. That's what he's going to do. He works so hard. We have so much belief in him.”