Duran tossed a clean ninth, striking out one to pick up his 10th save of the season Sunday against the Astros.
After allowing a total of six baserunners and three unearned runs over his last three appearances totaling 2.1 innings, Duran ran into no such trouble Sunday, retiring the Astros in order to collect his 10th save in as many attempts. Though he's yet to blow a save, since making his season-debut April 30, Duran has not been as dominant with a K/9 rate of 8.4 compared with rates of 11.8 and 12.1 over his first two big-league seasons.
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Twins' Jhoan Duran: Hangs on for ninth save
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Duran picked up the save Thursday against the Royals, allowing two unearned runs on a hit and a walk in the ninth inning.
Protecting a three-run lead in the ninth inning, Duran would allow a pair of runs on Bobby Witt's two-out single following a walk and a Carlos Santana error. However, Duran would coax a game-ending groundout from Vinnie Pasquantino, earning his ninth save in as many chances to open the year. While he's been a bit shaky of late, Duran's now gone five appearances (4.1 innings) without allowing an earned run. His ERA is down to 3.21 with a 1.21 WHIP despite him averaging just 8.36 K/9, down from his career mark of 11.63.
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Twins' Jhoan Duran: Gets out of jam for ninth save
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Duran picked up the save Tuesday against Kansas City, allowing two hits and no walks with a strikeout over one scoreless inning.
Duran surrendered a leadoff double to Salvador Perez and then a single to Adam Frazier, putting runners on the corners with no outs in the ninth. However, pinch-runner Dairon Blanco was caught stealing second and Duran retired MJ Melendez and Nick Loftin to keep the Royals off the scoreboard. After taking back-to-back losses in the middle of May, Duran has rebounded with five straight saves, yielding one earned run across 4.1 innings.
Duran picked up the save Monday against Kansas City. He pitched one-third of an inning with no strikeouts, allowing one unearned run on two hits.
Duran entered to collect the last out with runners on second and third and a four-run lead. The Twins reliever barely survived as a hit-by-pitch, two hits and a fielding error allowed three runs to cross. However, after all that chaos, Duran promptly retired Bobby Witt via a one-pitch groundout with runners on second and third to walk away victorious. The flamethrowing righty has secured the last four Minnesota saves, posting a 2.70 ERA and 3:1 K:BB over 3.1 innings during that span.
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Twins' Jhoan Duran: Notches sixth save
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Duran threw a perfect ninth inning with one strikeout against the Rangers on Saturday to earn his sixth save of the season.
The Twins grabbed the lead in the bottom of the eighth on an Alex Kirilloff three-run homer, and Duran was there the next half inning to close the door. He retired the side in order on just eight pitches and is now the team leader in saves with six to Griffin Jax's five, even though Duran missed the first month of the season due to an oblique injury. Duran has been used occasionally in the eighth since making his return, but he's still clearly the preferred closing option in Minnesota when manager Rocco Baldelli has the luxury of holding him back for the ninth.
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Twins' Jhoan Duran: Secures fifth save
Rotowire
Duran allowed a walk and struck out one batter in a scoreless inning to earn a save over the Rangers on Friday.
Duran worked around a two-out walk to finish off a 3-2 win. He'd been tagged with five runs in 2.2 innings over his previous three outings after beginning the year with a seven-inning scoreless streak. Friday's outing was his first scoreless appearance since May 12 and lowered his ERA to 4.22 alongside an 11:4 K:BB.
Duran picked up the save in Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Nationals despite allowing a run on two hits in the ninth inning. He struck out one.
Called upon to protect a two-run lead in the ninth, Duran got off to a rocky start, surrendering a leadoff homer to Joey Meneses followed by a Luis Garcia single. However, following a sac bunt that moved Garcia into scoring position, Duran struck out Joey Gallo before inducing a game-ending groundout from Keibert Ruiz to close out a 3-2 win. While he was able to escape with the save Wednesday, Duran's been shaky recently, allowing homers in three consecutive outings and five runs over 2.2 innings in that span. He now has four saves with a 4.66 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 10:3 K:BB across 9.2 innings to start the year.
Duran (0-2) took the loss Sunday against the Guardians, giving up a game-ending home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. He allowed three runs on one hit and two walks with no strikeouts in two-thirds of an inning.
It was the second home run that Duran allowed in the late innings in a tied game in the three-game series during which the Twins were swept. Duran hadn't walked a batter in eight innings before Sunday, so this is probably a minor setback. The bigger worry for fantasy managers is that he's been used in the eighth inning against the heart of the opposing team's order several times since his return from the injured list, ceding the save chance to another arm (usually Griffin Jax) in the bullpen. While Duran as the top choice for saves, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli isn't afraid to use him earlier in games or in tied games on the road.
