The Phillies thought they had their best weapon on the mound when the game mattered most. Instead, Jhoan Duran became the unlikely face of a collapse that could send Philadelphia home. With the Braves turning a one-run deficit into a 5-3 lead, Austin Riley’s eighth-inning three-run blast flipped the game on its head and left the Phillies staring at elimination.
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Duran had been one of Philadelphia’s most reliable relievers all season, surrendering just two home runs across 61 appearances. When the Phillies took a 3-2 lead in the seventh, Don Mattingly trusted his best arm to keep the game within reach. The decision spectacularly backfired, but Mattingly and Bryce Harper didn’t shy away from it after the game, staying candid about why he made the call.
“Yeah, that’s a dagger. Obviously, we have the lead going into the eighth. Best closer in the game on the bump. Riley just got to it,” NBC Sports Philadelphia quoted Harper.
Mattingly called Duran early for a rare multi-inning appearance, asking him to secure a nine-out save after J.T. Realmuto’s two-run triple gave Philadelphia a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh.
Duran breezed through a 1-2-3 seventh and smoothly got the first two outs of the eighth. The turning point was when, with two outs, Michael Harris II reached base on an infield single following a 2-0 splitter.
Duran lost his command and hit Ozzie Albies with a 3-2 knuckle curve, putting runners on first and second for the heart of Atlanta’s order.
Riley stepped into the plate, and Duran challenged the Braves’ third baseman with a 99.9 mph first-pitch four-seam fastball right down the middle. Riley crushed it the other way over the right-center field wall for a decisive three-run blast, putting Atlanta ahead 5-3.
This blown lead felt eerily similar to Game 3 of the 2023 NLCS, where the bullpen went 2-6 with a 5.58 ERA, blowing seven saves in seven chances.
Throughout his managerial career, Mattingly has been labeled a manager who heavily taxes his relief corps. Leading up to the 2026 postseason, he faced immense regular-season criticism for repeatedly warming up pitchers in the bullpen only to leave them on the bench – a strategy that analysts argued created hidden fatigue. This built up to the Game 1 loss against the Atlanta Braves.
Needing to bridge a gap with an unreliable bullpen, Mattingly pushed his absolute best arm (Duran) to throw a multi-inning spell starting way back in the 7th. Pushing a traditional one-inning closer out of his routine to cover extended frames ultimately backfired in the 8th, perfectly aligning with past playoff critiques that he pushes his top weapons past their breaking points.
This was the first time in 2026 that Duran took the mound in the seventh inning.
“It’s frustrating. But in our minds, we had our best guy out there; you live with this one,” Mattingly said after the game, while trying to justify the move.
“He made it look easy the first inning and if the second one would have went really quick, I would have just checked with him, if not, we would have went with somebody else.”
To make it more shocking, Riley had an underwhelming regular season compared to Duran’s dominant one.
While Duran finished the regular season with a 1.82 ERA, 33 saves, and 84 strikeouts, Riley hit just .219/.290/.364 with 19 home runs and 72 RBI over 159 games. The 3B has been struck out 201 times in the regular season.
With the Braves already having names like Matt Olson and Ronald Acuna Jr., many would have least expected that the Phillies’ best reliever could get humbled by someone like Riley.
“I’ve been grinding for these guys and this city all year,” Riley said postgame. “And to finally come up big for them was huge. It’s not over yet; just the start, but a nice start for sure.”
Now, the Phillies are just one game away from ending their 2026 season. And if Atlanta can defeat Philadelphia this time, it will end a longstanding trend.
Every time the two have faced each other in the playoffs, the Phillies have won. The 1993 NLCS, 2022 NLDS, and 2023 NLDS. That script may alter this year.
Cristopher Sanchez will start on Wednesday for Game 2, who went 18-7 with a 2.91 ERA during the regular season. If he could earn a win, only then would Duran get a chance to ask for a redemption.
“This is a September to forget,” American sports host Michael Barkann exclaimed during the Phillies’ delayed entry to the postseason. Their first postseason game proved why this is a month to forget for the Philadelphia fans.