Philadelphia Phillies crash out of MLB postseason after a baffling error against Los Angeles Dodgers
Dodgers players flooded onto the field to celebrate the win.
By Ben Church, CNN
(CNN) — Look away now, Philly faithful.
It was another heartbreaking night for the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday, after a disastrous error in the 11th inning of Game 4 saw them crash out of the MLB postseason at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers won 2-1 on the night to clinch a NL Division Series win and advance to the NL Championship Series (NLCS), but the game will likely be remembered more for how the Phillies lost it, than how the Dodgers won.
Extra innings were needed to separate the two teams at Dodger Stadium after a tense contest saw Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos driving in Max Kepler in the top of the seventh and Justin Dean scoring for LA off a walk with the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning.
The stage was then set for a moment the Phillies and pitcher Orion Kerkering would love to forget as quickly as possible.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the 11th, Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages struck a routine ground ball back towards Kerkering.
On any normal given day, the reliever would have thrown to first base for an easy out, but the occasion seemed to get to the 24-year-old.
Instead, he fumbled the ball, before trying to throw back to home plate, where his attempt totally missed Phillies catcher JT Realmuto’s outstretched mitt. The baffling error allowed Kim Hye-seong to score the winning run and send the home fans into a frenzy.
During the incident, Realmuto was seen pointing for Kerkering to throw to first base and, afterwards, Kim said he was equally surprised the pitcher chose to throw home. The Dodgers second baseman initially ran past home plate before returning to touch it.
While wild celebrations sparked around him, Kerkering was left standing motionless, head bowed, in the middle of the field, before some of his Phillies teammates came to comfort him.
“Just hit off my foot,” Kerkering, still visibly emotional, told reporters after the game.
“Once the pressure got to me, I just thought there’s a little faster throw to JT, little quicker throw than trying to cross-body it to Bryce (Harper at first). So just a horsesh*t throw.”
Kerkering added that his Phillies teammates were quick to shoulder some of the blame themselves for several missed opportunities throughout the game.
Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson also had words of support for Kerkering when speaking to reporters after the defeat. The pair had been seen speaking together as the relief pitcher trudged off the field.
“He just got caught up in the moment a little bit,” Thomson said. “Coming down the stretch, he pitched so well for us.
“I feel for him because he’s putting it all on his shoulders, but we win as a team and lose as a team.”
The Dodgers, meanwhile, progressed into the NLCS for the eighth time in the last 13 seasons, where they will face either the Chicago Cubs or the Milwaukee Brewers – who play a series-deciding Game 5 of their NLDS on Friday night in Wisconsin after the Cubs won Game 4 6-0 at Wrigley Field.
The team’s celebrations in the locker room post-game showed a squad eager to enjoy every bit of its World Series title defense.
“That was a nail-biter,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith, soaked in beer, said after the victory. “They cracked. We didn’t.”
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