Jhoan Duran will always hold a special spot in Minnesota Twins fans' hearts. Against Duran's wishes, the Twins traded the right-hander to the Philadelphia Phillies for right-handed starting pitcher Mick Abel and catching prospect Eduardo Tait in July 2025.
Duran entered NLWC Series Game 1 against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park in the seventh inning with the Phillies leading 3-2. Duran threw a perfect seventh inning.
Phillies manager Don Mattingly kept Duran in the game for the eighth inning. He got the first two outs of the inning before allowing a single to Michael Harris II and hitting Ozzie Albies with a pitch. Then, the former Twins right-hander allowed a crushing three-run home run to third baseman Austin Riley.
AUSTIN RILEY
— MLB (@MLB) September 29, 2026
GO-AHEAD THREE-RUN HOMER
ATLANTA IS GOING WILD 🤯 pic.twitter.com/XrPQnazvVO
The Braves won the game 5-3. If Atlanta wins tomorrow, Philadelphia will be knocked out of the postseason. If the Phillies win tomorrow, Game 3 will be on Thursday. The winner of the series will play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series.
It's tough to see our guy Duran give up such a clutch home run. With the Twins out of the postseason, Duran is one player we Minnesota fans can root for while our team waits until next year to play again.
Former Twin Jhoan Duran allows crushing postseason home run after outstanding regular season
It's pretty wild that Duran gave up the homer to Riley. Duran had a dominant regular season, recording a 1.82 ERA with 33 saves and 84 strikeouts over 59 1/3 innings. However, he typically doesn't throw more than one inning per outing, so he may have been fatigued on Tuesday.
Regardless, Duran's strong year makes his crushing moment surprising. To make it even more shocking, Riley has struggled significantly this year. During the regular season, Riley hit just .219/.290/.364 with 19 home runs and 72 RBI over 159 games. On a team full of stars such as Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson, Riley is one of the last Braves players many would have expected to come through in the clutch in a playoff game.
Hopefully, Duran will have a chance to redeem himself later in the series. If it's a close game tomorrow, he'll likely pitch, even though he threw two innings today.
Some have ridiculed Mattingly for his decision to keep Duran in the game for two innings, especially after he allowed two baserunners in the eighth. However, Duran is arguably the best reliever in baseball, so it's hard to fault the Phillies skipper's decision.
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