PHILADELPHIA — J.T. Realmuto handed Jhoan Duran the winning baseball and the two shook hands once again Friday night. For the fifth straight time, Duran entered with a chance to save a game for the Philadelphia Phillies and did not permit a single hitter to reach. No Phillies pitcher had ever faced the minimum in five straight saves.But something bothered Duran afterward. He showed Realmuto his right hand as the two waited for their teammates behind the mound and the lights flickered at Citizens Bank Park to mark an 8-6 win over the Chicago White Sox. The hulking closer was covered in sweat.“That ball,” Duran said, “it slipped a little bit.”He was talking about the only one a White Sox hitter put in play, a 2-2 curveball to Andrew Benintendi. It was the fifth different pitch type Duran unleashed in the ninth inning. He left it a little higher than he wanted because it slipped. Benintendi bounced it toward the hole, but second baseman Bryson Stott ranged to his left and made a fine play.That was as close as Duran came to being human.“It’s fun to watch,” fellow reliever José Alvarado said. “When he comes out, it’s electric.”The Phillies have had Duran for 11 months now, and it is fair to say they have never had a pitcher like him. They have had great closers, even ones with a perfect season. But none of them have featured a triple-digit fastball with four other pitches that are varying degrees of unhittable.
Jhoan Duran is giving the Phillies a ninth-inning show unlike any they’ve ever had
Duran's run of dominance is giving him a shot to become an All-Star for the first time: "You know the ninth is settled."














