Jhoan Duran asked for the ball on Tuesday night and turned another late inning into a clean finish for the Phillies. After saying his arm felt much better than it had the day before, he entered with a three-run lead in the ninth and retired the Padres in order for his 100th career save.
The save came in his fourth appearance in five days and capped a stretch in which the Phillies have leaned hard on their new closer. Duran, who returned from a strained oblique on May 5, has converted all 11 save chances this season and owns a 1.62 ERA in 17 appearances, numbers that help explain why Philadelphia wanted him back but also why it has watched his workload closely.
He said Tuesday afternoon that he felt good while playing catch at Petco Park and did not want to be held out. “I can’t be down today. I feel good. Why do I need to be down?” he said, adding later that the adrenaline felt different. The Phillies had not planned to use him that night, but the feeling in his arm changed the plan.
That matters because this is not a bullpen built around a fixed closer in the old sense. Philadelphia has usually mixed and matched in the current era that began in 2022, and Duran arrived at last year’s trade deadline with the expectation that he would give that relief corps a harder edge at the back end of games. Since May 12, he has pitched in seven games, saved six of them and allowed one run.
There is still a reminder of how thin the margin can be. Duran has two losses, including a 1-0 defeat in which he allowed a go-ahead home run after Cristopher Sánchez had thrown eight scoreless innings. Even so, the Phillies have trusted him in the biggest moments, and manager Don Mattingly said a lead in the ninth now feels safer with Duran on the mound, even if it is only by a run.
The club did not use him Wednesday as it completed the sweep of San Diego, leaving the next step less clear than the last one. For now, the story is simple: the Phillies got the inning they wanted, and Duran kept saying he was ready to take it.
