Philadelphia Phillies closer Jhoan Duran struggled in the Game 1 loss to the Atlanta Braves.
The Philadelphia Phillies suffered a heartbreaking 5-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series.
It was a pitching duel between Chris Sale and Jesus Luzardo for much of Game 1. The Phillies struck in the top of the 1st with an Alec Bohm double, which scored Kyle Schwarber, who got on with a walk.
The Braves got the run back in the bottom of the 2nd when Mauricio Dubón doubled and later scored on a Mike Yastrzemski single.
Luzardo was scoreless from that point on, going five innings, allowing three hits and one earned run, while striking out six. The Phillies then turned to Alex McFarlane out of the bullpen, and he allowed Atlanta to take the lead on an Ozzie Albies triple, which scored Michael Harris II.
It didn't take long for Philadelphia to strike back as they got to Sale in the 7th, when Bryan De La Cruz was hit by a pitch, and Bryson Stott singled, advancing De La Cruz to third. With two runners on base and one out, the Braves called on Didier Fuentes out of the bullpen.
Fuentes got Justin Crawford to fly out to center, but catcher J.T. Realmuto came up clutch with a two-run triple, which Ronald Acuna Jr. misplayed in right field.
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters ConnectRealmuto's triple gave the Phillies a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the 7th. Phillies manager Don Mattingly took no chances by calling upon Jhoan Duran for a nine-out save.
Duran only pitched in two innings once in the regular season, but they trusted him to step up in their first postseason game. He had a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th, but ran into trouble in the 8th.
Duran retired the first two batters before Harris reached on an infield single and Albies was hit by a pitch. That sent Austin Riley to the plate with two runners on and two outs, and he crushed a first-pitch fastball to right-center for a three-run home run, giving Atlanta a 5-3 lead.
The Braves brought on Raisel Iglesias for the save in the top of the 9th, and he made quick work of Philadelphia's lineup on seven pitches.
It was a major win for the Braves to kick off the Wild Card Series. With Duran's usage in Game 1, he likely won't be available to the Phillies for Game 2 on Wednesday, giving Atlanta a higher chance to close out the series. Philadelphia will have Cristopher Sánchez on the mound on Wednesday as they look to force a Game 3.
