Phillies Game 1 heartbreaker to Braves was shocking, not surprising

Sure, Duran is the Phils' lone reliable relief pitcher, a closer with truly unhittable stuff most of the time. And Austin Riley, who hit .219 with a .654 OPS this season, didn't seem the likeliest of guys to play home run hero, but there were mitigating circumstances.

Duran was being asked to somehow get the Phillies across the finish line following five gutsy innings from Jesus Luzardo and one inning from rookie reliever Alex McFarlane. After breezing through the first five outs, Duran's command wavered and the Braves made him pay.

It's a fundamentally terrible idea to ask someone to do something difficult they've rarely ever been asked to do before in the most high pressure situation imaginable. One should not reasonably expect that to work very well. While Duran had pitched multiple innings in the past, those instances were rare and, not recent. He had only worked more than one inning in one instance this season, and twice last year, both with Minnesota .