Jhoan Duran picks up save in Phillies’ dramatic win over Tigers
PHILADELPHIA — There was action in the Tigers bullpen as their starter, Jack Flaherty, prepared himself for the bottom of the seventh inning. Due up was five, six and seven in the Phillies’ batting order. Occupying those spots were outfielders Nick Castellanos, Brandon Marsh and Max Kepler, who were a combined 0-for-6 at the time.
Castellanos, who struck out in his first two at-bats against Flaherty, singled to lead off the inning. That was it for the Detroit starter. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch removed Flaherty in favor of left-hander Tyler Holton. Phillies manager Rob Thomson countered with his new outfield plan, pinch-hitting for Marsh with Otto Kemp and the newly acquired Harrison Bader for Kepler. It worked, sparking a rally.
Thomson said before Friday’s 5-4 Phillies win over the Tigers that he’d run a pair of platoons in left and center field for at least the next week because of the pitchers lined up to face the Phillies. Things could change after that.
Kemp blooped a single to right field, advancing Castellanos to third. Bader worked a walk to load the bases. Castellanos later scored on a sacrifice fly by Bryson Stott to put the Phillies on the board. Trea Turner followed with a two-out, RBI single against new reliever Will Vest, and all of a sudden, the Phillies were in business, now trailing the Tigers by just a run.
“It was huge,” Thomson said about Kemp’s and Bader’s pair of at-bats. “Kemp gets the jam-shot base hit. … Bader had a really good, patient at-bat.”
Kyle Schwarber plated Bader from second following Turner’s single. In a matter of moments, it was a whole new game, tied at three runs apiece.
The seventh inning ended with things still tied. Bryce Harper was called out on a check-swing appeal by third base umpire Vic Carapazza. Harper argued the call emphatically from the infield grass in front of home plate, eventually being ejected by Carapazza as boisterous boos rained down on the field from those in attendance.
After Orion Kerkering, who hadn’t pitched in six days, allowed a home run to Wenceel Pérez in the top of the eighth, the Phillies found themselves down again. But another rally made way for Jhoan Duran to record his first save as a Phillie.
Castellanos singled with one out and scored one batter later on a double by Kemp to tie the game.
Stott picked up another RBI — this time to give his club the lead — on a hustle single later in the frame. The initial out call on the field was overturned after Thomson challenged it.
Duran made his way to the mound to face the heart of the Tigers’ batting order. He got through it on four pitches, picking up his first save as a Phillie, helping his new club secure a dramatic victory in front of a sold-out, frenzied crowd of 43,241.
“He was electric,” Thomson said of Duran. “Four pitches, and the first pitch was a 98 mph split. I don’t know if I’ve seen that before. He threw strikes. He was calm and cool. He was great.”