Closer Jhoan Duran picks up his first save with Phillies as part of late rally past Tigers

Scott Lauber, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Aug 1, 2025

Published in Baseball

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PHILADELPHIA — Before the Phillies turned out the lights on the Tigers, they turned out the actual lights.

Welcome to the Jhoan Duran Show.

This is what it looks like to have an actual closer. The ninth inning becomes a spectacle. And considering everything that led up to it Friday night — Bryce Harper’s ejection for arguing a check swing in the seventh, multiple lead changes, the Phillies taking a lead on an overturned call in the top of the eighth — Duran’s entrance still pulsated.

Making his first appearance for the Phillies, two days after being acquired in a trade-deadline blockbuster, Duran set down the side in the ninth inning on four pitches — four! — to nail down a come-from-behind 5-4 victory over the Tigers in the opener of a series in a playoff atmosphere on Wall of Fame Night at Citizens Bank Park.

First, the particulars: The Phillies trailed 3-0 in the seventh inning and 4-3 in the eighth. But they rallied to tie it on Otto Kemp’s RBI double, then took the lead when Bryson Stott beat out a grounder to shortstop.

Stott was ruled out on the field. But the call was reversed on a replay challenge, enabling Kemp to score on the play.

That brought in Duran from the bullpen to his standard entrance while he was with the Twins. Fans were told to turn on the lights on their phones. The ballpark lights went down. The scoreboards that flashed with flames, a five-letter name — DURAN — and animated tarantulas crawling from one side to the other.

Before all that, Harper was batting with two outs and the go-ahead run on third base in a tie game in the seventh inning. He dropped the bat and bent to unstrap his shin guard, certain that he had drawn a walk on a dirt-diving, full-count slider.

One problem: He didn’t check his swing.

At least not according to third-base umpire Vic Carapazza. And when Carapazza rung him up, Harper flipped out. He took a few steps toward third base when Carapazza gave him the heave-ho.

The score remained tied, at least until Wenceel Pérez led off the eighth with a homer against Orion Kerkering to restore a lead, 4-3, for the Tigers.

Nick Castellanos started the Phillies’ game-winning rally with a one-out single. He scored from first on Kemp’s double into the left-field corner. The inning appeared to be over two batters later on Edmundo Sosa’s tapper in front of the mound. But Tigers reliever Brenan Hanifee threw the ball wide of first base to extend the inning for Stott.

Before the game, the Phillies inducted Jimmy Rollins and former general manager Ed Wade into their Wall of Fame.