11 hours ago
1
Ryan Hensley isn’t the only new NL East reliever with an electric entrance.
New Phillies closer Jhoan Duran kept his entrance from the Twins, with the stadium lights going out and “El Incomprendido” by Victor Cardenas, Farruko and DJ Adoni blaring inside Citizens Bank Park.
For Duran’s first appearance with the Phillies, the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast didn’t go to break in between innings so it could show the entire entrance.
"Thank you to the Twins for passing this on to the Phillies."
"Yeah. This is beautiful."
Tom McCarthy and John Kruk react to the scene as new Phillies closer Jhoan Duran takes the mound at Citizens Bank Park for the first time since getting traded. pic.twitter.com/WPFmfRRPQn
It ended up being the right call.
The duo of Tom McCarthy and John Kruk didn’t say a word as Duran jogged out to the mound and was introduced, letting the pictures do all the talking.
“This is unbelievable,” McCarthy said.
“It’s been a long time since something like this has happened at Citizens Bank Park. I don’t think it’s ever happened. I mean, seriously, John. Thank you to the Twins for passing this on to the Phillies.”
“Yeah, this is beautiful,” Kruk said.
Duran made good on the hype by setting the Tigers down 1-2-3 in the ninth to close out a 5-4 come-from-behind win as the Phillies jumped ahead of the Mets in the NL East.
The star closer could change the equation for the Phillies, whose bullpen has been a longstanding issue.
Duran has a 1.97 ERA this season and should shore up the ninth inning for Philadelphia.
The Phillies, who entered Saturday leading the division by a half-game, traded a pair of top prospects, Eduardo Tait and Mick Abel, to Minnesota for Duran.
Philadelphia is also preparing to welcome David Robertson to its bullpen after signing a pro-rated deal earlier this summer.
Duran was part of a mass exodus from Minnesota, which also included Carlos Correa waiving his no-trade clause to return to the Astros due to the Twins trending downward.
English (US)