Jhoan Duran’s Save Streak Snapped, Blue Jays Walk Phillies Off 3-2

The Phillies had a loss snatched from the jaws of victory Tuesday night.

The matchup was a pitcher’s duel from the start. Zack Wheeler took the mound for the Phillies, Dylan Cease for the Blue Jays. For most of the game, it was like that, both pitchers gave up 1 run while pitching deep into the game. It was made clear through the pitching performances of Wheeler and Cease that the game was going to be decided by which bullpen blinked first. While the Blue Jays pen blinked first, Duran blinked more.

A game like Tuesday night is certainly not the most fun night of baseball in the world. The game was not very exciting from an offensive standpoint, with both sides struggling to score runs across. The pitching staff wasn’t exhilarating, Wheeler was gutting it out, and Cease was making simple quick work. Each bullpen had an arm that struggled on the night.

At the end of the day, boring, bad games like Tuesday night’s 3-2 Phillies loss are bound to happen. Baseball is played 162+ times over the course of 6-7 months; there will always be frustrating games like that. It’s important not to let games like this get into the minds of fans and players; it has to be just flushed down the drain.

This forgettable night for the Phillies did not start in forgettable fashion. Both Trea Turner and Brandon Marsh each notched doubles in the 1st inning to give the Phillies a quick 1-0 lead, taking advantage of Cease getting used to being activated off the injured list earlier on Tuesday.

In the second inning, the roles reversed. Cease sat the Phillies down in order, striking two out to end the inning. Wheeler came out and had a much gutsier inning, allowing 3 baserunners throughout the inning. However, a double play after a leadoff single allowed Wheeler to let two men on afterwards, closing out the inning with a strikeout and no runs allowed.

Cease continued his side of the duel in the 6th inning by making light work of the Phillies offense again. Then, in the bottom half of the inning, Jesus Sanchez took advantage of a high and inside cutter and blasted it over the right-field wall to tie the game up at 1. Wheeler then made quick work of the next two Blue Jays, ending the inning and his. Wheeler’s gutsy performance concluded with 6 innings pitched, 1 earned run allowed on 6 hits, and 5 strikeouts.

Former Phillie Jeff Hoffman was able to get through the top half of the 7th scoreless. Orion Kerkering then matched him with a dominant 3-up, 3-down inning. The eighth continued with no blinks from either side. Blue Jays reliever Mason Fluharty got through the Phillies in order. Kerkering started the 8th, quickly getting Vladimir Guerrero Jr. out before Jose Alvarado came in and got the next two outs easily to retire the Jays in order.

Then came the ninth. One of the most dominant relievers heading into Tuesday’s game, Louis Varland, entered. Bryce Harper led off the inning with a walk, then Marsh and Alec Bohm went down. Harper advanced with Bohm bouncing the ball back to Varland, which was slow enough to force the play only the first. That set up what seemed at the time to be the clutch game-winning hit as Bryson Stott roped a double down the left field line that scored Harper and gave the Phillies the 2-1 lead.

It seemed easy from there. The Phillies had the lead, and in came elite closer Jhoan Duran. Duran had been lights out when it came to closing out ballgames, going 16-16 in save opportunities heading into this inning. While all signs before the inning started that Duran would make light work of a struggling Jays lineup and bump his perfect save record to 17-17. That quickly changed as the first two hitters of the inning took advantage of the Phillies’ middle infield being shifted, putting 2 men on with no outs. Duran then lost his command as he threw a wild pitch that tied the game up, then Brandon Valenzuela blooped a ball into left, and in came the winning run.

The walk-off loss forces a rubber match Wednesday at 7:07 PM ET as Jesus Luzardo faces off against Max Scherzer — an opportunity for the Phillies to quickly wash the bitter loss from Tuesday night.

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