Twins Closer Jhoan Duran Might Have the Best Entrance in MLB

Twins Closer Jhoan Duran Might Have the Best Entrance in MLB

Minnesota Twins flamethrower Jhoan Duran's iconic ninth-inning entrance made its season debut Friday night at Target Field.

Duran, who missed the first month of the 2024 campaign with an oblique injury, had his first opportunity to earn a save at home in the Twins' 5–2 win over the Boston Red Sox.

After Duran threw his final warm-up pitch in the bullpen, the lights at Target Field turned off. Fans in attendance turned on their cell phone lights as flames engulfed every jumbotron and screen at the ballpark. Duran trotted in toward the mound as a club-style song—mixed just for this entrance—blared over the speakers.

Chills.

Here's a clip of Duran's entrance:

The entrance song's special formula? A few dongs from The Undertaker's theme song that fades into lyrics from Pitbull and Daddy Yankee's "Hot" mixed with the beat from "El Incomprendido" by Farruko.

Duran didn't disappoint in his outing either, striking out two hitters in a perfect 1-2-3 inning to secure the win and his second save of the season. He threw six pitches over 100 mph and topped out at 102.7 mph—velocity that lives up to his electric entrance.

There are a few goosebump-enducing closer entrances around baseball these days. The New York Mets started this trend with Edwin Diaz walking out to "Narco" by Timmy Trumpet. The San Francisco Giants also unveiled a new entrance for closer Camilo Doval this season.

If Duran's entrance isn't the best in baseball, it's certainly up there.

The Twins and Red Sox will continue their three-game weekend series on Saturday at Target Field.

Mets' Francisco Lindor Has Big Game, Walks Off Cubs After Battling Flu

Mets’ Francisco Lindor Has Big Game, Walks Off Cubs After Battling Flu

The flu couldn't keep Francisco Lindor from delivering for his team in the clutch.

The New York Mets shortstop left Wednesday night's game with flu-like symptoms but bounced back on Thursday. While Lindor didn't start the afternoon game against the Chicago Cubs, he pinch-hit for Joey Wendle in the sixth inning and delivered a two-run double. He wasn't finished.

The four-time All-Star came up in the bottom of the 11th inning with one out, runners on first and second and the Mets trailing 6–5. He lined a 3–2 pitch from Daniel Palencia down the left field line, scoring Brett Baty and Harrison Bader and giving the Mets a 7–6 walk-off win.

Lindor came off the bench to go 2-for-3 with two doubles, four RBIs and a run scored. It was a big performance for a Mets team trying to find consistency.

After the game, Lindor told SNY's Steve Gelbs that he spent the day trying to get ready to play because of how badly he was feeling.

This could be the kind of game that could get Lindor going. He has really struggled this season and is currently slashing .207/.287/.380 for an OPS of .667. He has five home runs, 15 RBIs and a 0.6 WAR. Given that he's in the third season of a 10-year, $341 million contract that's obviously not good enough.

Maybe he needed a touch of the flu to turn things around.

Umpire Incorrectly Calls Pete Crow-Armstrong Safe Using His Helmet to Stay on Second

Umpire Incorrectly Calls Pete Crow-Armstrong Safe Using His Helmet to Stay on Second

The Chicago Cubs and New York Mets played a day game at Citi Field on Thursday. In the top of the second inning, Cubs rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a double to right field that scored Patrick Wisdom.

As Crow-Armstrong ran the base paths, his helmet started to fall off so he grabbed it before sliding into second. Then things got really weird. Crow-Armstrong tried to do a pop-up slide, but failed to pop. Instead, he slid over second and came off the bag as Joey Wendle caught the throw from Starling Marte.

In danger of getting tagged out, Crow-Armstrong used his helmet to touch second base and was called safe.

The amazing thing about baseball is that it's been around for 150 or so years and you still witness things that you have never seen before. Which is why the Mets' broadcast booth was legitimately confused about whether it was the right call or not.

Eventually, reporter Steve Gelbs confirmed with Major League Baseball that it was the wrong call and Crow-Armstrong should have been called out.

Crow-Armstrong, 22, might actually be trying out new material as a baseball prop comic during this series. During Wednesday's game, he got his bat caught in the protective netting and it just looked like it was levitating.

The Cubs return home to host the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. Can't wait to see what Crow-Armstrong has in store for the fans.

Mets Manager Calls Out MLB Replay Official for 'Wrong Call' That Ended Game

Mets Manager Calls Out MLB Replay Official for ‘Wrong Call’ That Ended Game

New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was incensed after outfielder Pete Alonso was called out on a bang-bang play at home plate in the ninth inning of Wednesday night's loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Mendoza wasn't arguing whether or not Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya got the tag down on Alonso in time. His argument was that Amaya blocked home plate, which is in direct violation of a rule put into place a decade ago that emphasized player safety from home plate collisions.

Here's a replay of the call that ended the game, and it was close:

Mendoza argued with the home plate umpire about the call, and the call was reviewed and upheld after it was determined that Amaya had sufficiently blocked home plate without stepping on the base, which is legal.

Mendoza clearly did not agree with the call on the field that cost his club a chance at tying the game. He let his feelings be known in the postgame press conference.

"Yeah, the interpretation of the rule," Mendoza said when asked about his biggest gripe with the call. "It's one of those that they send out a memo in spring training, what's legal and what's illegal. And it's clearly on that e-mail that we got that catchers aren't allowed to have their foot in front of the plate, on top of the plate. They can't straddle without possession of the baseball. And it was very clearly that the guy was...had his left foot on top of the plate without the baseball. I think they got the wrong call. "

It was a tough loss for the Mets, who fell to 15-15 on the season. They'll look to avenge the loss with a day game against the Cubs on Thursday afternoon.

There Was So Much Going On At This Mets Game’s $1 Hot Dog Night

There Was So Much Going On At This Mets Game’s $1 Hot Dog Night

1. For those of you who have been with me since back in the Hot Clicks days, you’ll remember that I often did giveaways in the column.

I learned very quickly that people LOVED free stuff. It didn’t matter what it was, either. I could be giving away the most useless item and there would still be a frenzy for it.

But what really makes people lose their minds more than anything else when it comes to getting something for free or dirt cheap is food.

This leads me to Tuesday night’s Cubs-Mets game at Citi Field. It was $1 hot dog night at the ballpark. And it was quite an event.

For starters, SNY sideline reporter Steve Gelbs, dressed as a hot dog, did a hard-hitting report in front of the “$1 Wiener Boys” where he explained that the Mets normally sell 4,100 hot dogs per game. For $1 hot dog night, the team ordered 70,000 frankfurters.

However, all the excitement over $1 hot dogs was just too much for some Mets fans to handle. One fan who made it his mission to consume as many dogs as possible caused so much excitement that other fans started throwing their wieners at him.

Unfortunately, this caused the fan, who kept track of how many hot dogs he ate and how many beers he drank on his shirt, to get removed from the ballpark, which then led to a hilarious “Let him eat” chant” from those around him.

When all was said and done, the attendance for the Cubs-Mets game was 22,880 and 44,269 hot dogs were sold.

2. Everything about the agony that sports can cause is summed up in this photo from the Sixers' shocking comeback win against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night thanks to an out-of-this-world performance from Tyrese Maxey, who had 46 points, including a dagger 3-pointer from WAY downtown to send the game to overtime.

3. We told you yesterday about NBC making a big play to steal the NBA from TNT. CNBC reports that if that happens, John Tesh would be fine with NBC using the classic and popular NBA theme song he composed, Roundball Rock, that was a staple when the network used to air the NBA.

4. What a scene in Arizona last night. The Dodgers-Diamondbacks game was delayed for nearly two hours because a colony of bees decided to set up show on the netting behind home plate.

The stadium had to call on beekeeper, Matt Hilton, to take care of things and he instantly become a local hero.

5. This was quite a take from Stephen A. Smith on Mike Trout, who is now sidelined indefinitely after suffering a torn meniscus.

6. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with newly retired New York Yankees radio legend, John Sterling.

Sterling, who was the radio voice of the Yankees for 36 seasons before stepping away from the job in mid-April, talks about his decision to retire now and clarifies reports on his health. He also addresses the social media backlash the Yankees faced after giving him an 83-inch television as a retirement gift.

Sterling also shares the advice he’d give the person who succeeds him as the Yankees radio play-by-play person, shares his thoughts on his “streak” of calling 5,060 straight games and remembers his time as a sports talk radio host. Sterling also reveals the one Yankees player who asked him to change his famous home run call and talks about the role Mike and the Mad Dog played in helping the home run calls become a thing.

Following Sterling, Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include the NFL draft, Aaron Boone’s ridiculous ejection, the upcoming unedited The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady on Netflix, Taylor Swift’s new album and more.

You can listen to each podcast by clicking into the tweet below. You can also listen on Apple and Spotify.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: I can’t get enough of these videos that have “Gorilla Monsoon” and “Bobby Heenan” call memorable sports moments.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on AppleSpotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok

Bill Murray Watched the Cubs Beat the Mets, Rode the 7 Train With Fans

Bill Murray Watched the Cubs Beat the Mets, Rode the 7 Train With Fans

As an actor, Bill Murray gets to pick his projects and largely set his schedule, and he's created one that allows him to check out a tremendous amount of live sporting events. Fresh off checking out UConn's second consecutive national title with his son Luke, who is an assistant coach, Murray was in Queens on Monday night to take in the Chicago Cubs-New York Mets game at Citi Field.

Murray has been long-tenured as the Cubs' most notable celebrity fan and has a rich history with the franchise, from appearing in the broadcast with Harry Caray to serving as a good luck charm in 2016's curse-breaking World Series. So a regular season road game in the month of April isn't entirely a significant entry in his fandom, but it was an exciting night at the ballpark as Chicago broke up a no-hitter late and escaped with a 3-1 win.

Which meant Murray had a happier subway ride back to Manhattan than the Mets fans who also piled into the 7 train. And thanks to the magic of social media, we now that is something that happened.

Christopher Morel sealed things for the Cubs with a go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth inning. He did not ride the 7 train after the game.