The Phillies spent 11 innings Friday night finding increasingly painful ways to lose a baseball game. The most important player in understanding their 6-5 loss to the Braves, however, never appeared in it.
Jhoan Duran couldn’t.
Don Mattingly’s closer was seemingly unavailable after pitching on consecutive days against Houston, leaving the Phillies without their best reliever as they blew leads in the ninth, 10th and 11th innings at Truist Park.
And that sends the story backward 48 hours.
Because the question after this loss isn’t why Mattingly didn’t use Duran Friday night.
It’s why he used him Wednesday.
The Phillies led Houston 11-7 entering the ninth Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park. Duran was rested. Mattingly went to him anyway, and the right-hander needed 14 pitches to finish a four-run victory.
There was precedent for it.
Mattingly explained his philosophy earlier this season when asked about using Duran with a four-run lead. He said he actually likes the setup because Duran is likely to begin warming if another reliever puts runners on base anyway. Rather than potentially summon his closer into trouble, Mattingly prefers giving him a clean inning.
“I kind of do like it, honestly,” Mattingly said in June, explaining that Duran would probably be getting loose regardless.
There is logic to that.
Friday supplied the counterargument.
Duran’s Wednesday appearance came with an average leverage index of just 0.21, according to Baseball Reference. He faced three hitters, retired all three and added only .017 in win probability to a game the Phillies were already overwhelmingly likely to win.
Then came Thursday.
The Phillies and Astros were tied 1-1 entering the ninth. That was precisely the kind of inning for which Duran exists, and Mattingly appropriately used him. Cam Smith homered, Houston won 2-1 and Duran had now pitched on consecutive days.
The problem wasn’t Thursday.
The problem was that Thursday became Duran’s second straight day.
Friday was the bill.
The Phillies hardly needed assistance making the loss painful.
Aaron Nola delivered 6 1/3 innings and allowed two runs. Derek Hill turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 advantage in the second with a bases-clearing double off Chris Sale.
Philadelphia carried a 3-2 lead into the ninth.
Then it began giving away inches.
Bryce Harper opened the ninth with a double, giving the Phillies an opportunity to manufacture a critical insurance run. Luis Arraez flied out before Alec Bohm hit a ground ball to shortstop Mauricio Dubón.
Harper tried to advance.
Dubón threw him out at third.
It was an aggressive decision at precisely the wrong moment. Instead of keeping the potential insurance run at second with two outs, the Phillies surrendered it. Bryson Stott struck out moments later.
Then Atlanta made them pay.
Jonathan Bowlan struck out Austin Riley to start the bottom of the ninth before Mike Yastrzemski singled. Sean Murphy followed with a single to center that scored pinch-runner DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and tied the game.
Hill then compounded matters by mishandling the ball, allowing Murphy to advance to second.
The error did not score the tying run.
It did make an already dangerous inning even more dangerous.
Still, the Phillies survived.
And then they took the lead again.
Justin Crawford singled home Stott in the 10th to make it 4-3, only for Atlanta to answer against Chase Shugart on Dubón’s sacrifice fly.
Philadelphia went ahead again in the 11th. Garrett Stubbs began the inning at second as the automatic runner, Harper singled and Arraez drove Stubbs home.
Phillies 5, Braves 4.
Three outs.
This is where Wednesday suddenly mattered.
Shugart began the bottom of the 11th and retired Riley. Mattingly then turned to Brooks Raley. Dominic Smith popped out.
Two outs.
One run up.
One out away.
And the best reliever in the Phillies bullpen was unavailable.
Ha-Seong Kim lined a single to left that scored Ozzie Albies and tied the game. Baldwin followed with a double to center, scoring Kim and ending it.
Braves 6, Phillies 5.
That sequence does not prove Duran would have won the game.
He might not have. He had surrendered the decisive home run one afternoon earlier. Closers fail. Baseball offers no guarantee that changing one decision changes everything that follows.
That isn’t the point.
Bullpen management is an exercise in probability and resource allocation. The objective is to place your best pitchers into the innings that matter most.
Wednesday’s four-run ninth barely mattered at all.
Friday produced inning after inning that did.
The Phillies also created plenty of their own problems. Harper’s baserunning decision cost them an opportunity. Hill’s error added unnecessary danger. Bowlan surrendered the ninth-inning lead. Shugart couldn’t preserve the advantage in the 10th. Raley was one out from ending it in the 11th.
Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner combined to go 0-for-10. The Phillies scored five runs, went 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position and still managed to squander three separate late leads.
There is more than enough blame to distribute.
But that is also why bullpen management matters.
A team cannot anticipate every error, bad read or bloop single that may occur two days from now. It can anticipate that September games against the team it is chasing might eventually require its best reliever.
Mattingly had an explanation for using Duran Wednesday.
Friday night supplied the counterargument.
More Phillies Coverage
Loading Phillies schedule...
Loading NL East standings...
