Sunday night, there was no need to ask as the Phillies collected a 2-0 victory over Detroit.
Any debate about who would pitch the ninth inning ended the moment the Citizens Bank Park scoreboard beckoned the crowd of 41,569 to switch on their phone flashlights—and the haunting bell toll of the Undertaker echoed through the stadium speakers.
Cristopher Sánchez had carved through the Tigers on just 84 pitches across eight dazzling innings. He was flirting with history—a Maddux, a complete-game shutout on fewer than 100 pitches. He could’ve been the first Phillie to do it since Ranger Suárez in 2021.
But the Phillies didn’t trade two top prospects at the deadline to make sentimental decisions. They traded for Jhoan Duran.
So they cued the music. They lit up the ballpark. They handed the ball to the man they call Durantula. And he made the ninth look like a formality.
“One thing is: That’s why we got Duran,” manager Rob Thomson said postgame. “The other thing is: You know how concerned I am with complete games.”
It might have seemed like an unusual decision in isolation. But it was anything but.
Sánchez had thrown a complete game just 12 days ago. He’s pitched into the seventh inning in nine of his last 10 starts. And the Phillies? They play the long game now. The kind of long game where protecting arms is just as vital as protecting leads.
The final result: A 2–0 win. A two-hit shutout, shared between Sánchez and Duran. A combined Maddux—because yes, Duran needed just 12 pitches to get the final three outs.
“Typical Sánchez at this point,” catcher J.T. Realmuto told reporters afterwards.
Sánchez was simply surgical. No runs. Five hits. One walk. He needed only 15 pitches to get through the seventh—the longest inning of his night. He didn’t even throw his first three-ball count until the fifth inning. His changeup? Practically invisible.
He induced 14 whiffs on 29 swings with the pitch. And the Tigers kept chasing.
“When he’s got that going,” Realmuto said, “he’s just tough on opposing lineups.”
His defense did its part, too. Edmundo Sosa threw out a runner at the plate in the seventh. Bryson Stott made a diving stop to end the eighth. Sánchez himself started a 1-6-3 double play in the fourth after fielding a ball calmly back to the mound.
“I think if they don’t play the kind of defense they played today, I think we would have lost the game,” Sánchez said.
Even Thomson noticed how much his young lefty has grown.
“A couple years ago, that 1-6 throw that he made, he might not be accurate,” Thomson said. “He’s worked on it. … He’s a full package now.”
So when the Phillies shut the door on Sánchez’s night after the eighth, it wasn’t punishment. It was planning. Strategic. Surgical.
And Pedro Martinez—yes, that Pedro—might have played a quiet role in it.
Two days before the start, Sánchez spoke with the Hall of Famer during pregame as part of the weekend festivities surrounding Jimmy Rollins’ Wall of Fame induction. The conversation, as broadcast on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, centered on “pitching in the dog days.”
The two have been in touch since last year.
“We just have that likeness for each other,” Sánchez said. “He respects me. I respect him.”
Cue the Gong
Then came Duran.
With the night sky lit by cell phone flashlights and the energy in South Philly boiling, Duran stalked from the bullpen with his now-signature theatrics. Gong. Lights. Splinkers. Heat.
He faced Detroit’s 2-3-4 hitters and made it look routine. Kerry Carpenter grounded out. Bryce Harper made a spectacular stretch-and-snag play at first to rob Spencer Torkelson. Then came Riley Greene—who saw six straight fastballs and could do nothing but whiff.
Duran’s velocity? Ludicrous. His slowest heater: 100.7 mph. The fastest? A blink-and-you-missed-it 103.3 mph.
“It feels normal for me,” Duran said. “Because I don’t think about it too much on how fast I try (to throw). I put in my mentality more: if I can control the fastball and the stuff.”
So far, so good. In two appearances since the Phillies acquired him from Minnesota, Duran has two saves. He’s thrown 16 total pitches. No runs. No walks. Nothing but dominance. His season ERA? A crisp 1.93.
“It’s incredible,” Sánchez said of the addition, through an interpreter. “It’s one of the best closers in the game, and we have him on our side. It’s the best thing that could have happened to us.”
And then there’s Brandon Marsh, who knows something about deadline jolts—having come to Philly himself in 2022. He’s already bonded with outfielder Harrison Bader, another newcomer, and he’s all-in on the Duran experience.
“I think Duran, his walkout speaks for itself,” Marsh said. “You can hear that all the way from Jersey. It’s been incredible. I’m super excited with Bader being here, Duran being here. It’s been a great spark to our club.”
And Duran?
“Duran has proven that he’s a ninth-inning guy,” Marsh continued. “He’s had a lot of success in his career, and we’re going to need that out of him. Especially with the starting pitching we have, being as good as it is, being able to have that Durantula come into the ninth is pretty huge.”
Building a Juggernaut
That’s the story right now in Philadelphia. Yes, the offense still has questions. The two runs on Sunday came from a Kyle Schwarber moonshot and a Max Kepler RBI groundout. There are still middle relief gaps, still some inconsistency at the plate.
But the pitching?
The rotation entered Sunday leading MLB in innings (626 2/3), strikeouts per nine (9.67), FIP (3.41), and FanGraphs WAR (13.7). They lead the majors in starts of 7+ innings—by nine.
And now, they can end games with a 103 mph flamethrower who makes the ninth inning a spectacle.
“The last time I played here, I played on the other side. It’s not fun,” Duran said. “This side is more fun. I feel more energy. I feel electric when I come in, and I feel excited to throw the three outs.”
There was a time when the Phillies didn’t have a ninth-inning plan.
Now?
They have a gong, a light show, and a Durantula.
And for a team with October aspirations, that’s not just a closer.
That’s a closing argument.
Loading Phillies schedule...
Loading NL East standings...
Support the Mission. Fuel the Movement.
You’re not just funding journalism — you’re backing the future of youth baseball in Philly.
👉 Join us on Patreon »