Jhoan

Duran

The Twins were hoping Joe Ryan could finish the game against the Guardians after picking up when play resumed in the fourth, but he gave up a double and a walk to open the ninth. Duran took over in the 5-2 game and an allowed an RBI single and a two-run double before preserving the tie. The Twins then won the game in the bottom of the ninth. It’s the first blown save in nine chances for Duran this season. Since he ended up throwing 23 pitches, he shouldn’t be available for the regularly scheduled game. Griffin Jax might wind up with a save chance then.

Duran struck out one, and that punchout with no walks improved his K/BB ratio to 25/9 over 21 1/3 innings. It also gave him his eighth save and lowered his ERA to 0.89 over that timeframe. All those numbers are good. That’s pretty obvious, but it’s worth reporting. Jhoan Duran is good.

After missing out on a save chance Friday, Duran was available tonight to record his third save in four days. He and Griffin Jax will likely be back down tomorrow, so Cole Sands might wind up with a save chance then.

The Twins called on Coulombe for the save after Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax each had just worked two days in a row. He handled the heart of the Giants’ order with ease to earn his second save of the season.

Someday no one will remember that Rocco Baldelli seemed to want Griffin Jax to be the Twins’ primary closer this year. Duran has allowed two runs in 17 1/3 innings, and he’s collected four saves in the last week after finishing with just two in April.

Duran reached back and hit 100 mph on his fastball five times among his 14 pitches, and dominated the Baltimore lineup to pick up his fifth save. The scoreless outing lowers his ERA to a glistening 1.10, and he has only allowed one run over his 16 appearances. That’ll work.

Durán allowed a two-out infield single to Ceddanne Rafaela but struck out Jarren Duran to end the game. It’s now his fourth save of the season to go along with a 1.17 ERA. He’s doubled his save total on the season in the last two days with the Twins finally creating save situations for the 27-year-old who has allowed just nine hits in 15 1/3 innings this year.

Duran was summoned to close things out in the ninth inning with a one-run lead against the Red Sox. He worked around a single and intentionally walked Alex Bregman before recording the final out for his third save of the season.

Coulombe was called on for the save after it took Jhoan Duran 32 pitches to close out the White in the Twins’ previous game. It was likely Coulombe instead of presumed set-up man Griffin Jax because Jax pitched the seventh inning against the top of Chicago’s lineup whereas Coulombe worked a clean inning against the bottom of it.

It wasn’t the smoothest of innings for the right-hander, as he loaded the bases to start the inning on an infield single and a pair of walks. He then struck out Joshua Palacios to get the first out of the inning before Nick Maton plated a run with a ground ball to second base. That put the tying runs in scoring position for Andrew Benintendi, but Duran got him to fly out to center to end the threat. He now holds a 1.74 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and a 10/6 K/BB ratio through his first 10 1/3 innings on the season.