The Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t blink as the pressure built, inning after scoreless inning. Both teams pushed a single run across, forcing extra innings. Then came one of postseason baseball’s craziest endings.
Orion Kerkering made a wild throw past home instead of tossing to first after mishandling Andy Pages’ bases-loaded comebacker with two outs in the 11th inning, and the Dodgers escaped with a 2-1 win Thursday for a 3-1 NL Division Series victory.
“That was a nail-biter,” beer-soaked Dodgers catcher Will Smith said in the postgame celebration. “They cracked. We didn’t.”
Kerkering hung his head and put hands on knees after his throw sailed past catcher J.T. Realmuto as pinch-runner Hyeseong Kim crossed the plate, advancing the Dodgers to the NL Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs or Milwaukee.
“I was surprised he threw it home,” Kim said through a translator. “I just ran as hard as I could.”
Realmuto had pointed to first when the broken-bat, two-hopper hit off Kerkering and rolled just in front of the mound.
“Just hit off my foot,” Kerkering said. “Once the pressure got to me, I just thought there’s a little faster throw to J.T., little quicker throw than trying to cross-body it to Bryce (Harper at first).”
Kerkering picked up the ball and in one motion made a sidearm throw, 46 feet from the plate. The ball sailed up the third-base line, past Realmuto’s outstretched mitt, and fans in the crowd of 50,563 at Dodger Stadium erupted after spending the final three innings on their feet.
“It’s brutal,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s one of those things that it’s a PFP, a pitcher’s fielding practice. He’s done it a thousand times. And right there he was so focused, I’m sure, on just getting the hitter and just sort of forgot the outs and the situation.”
Phillies manager Rob Thomson wrapped an arm around Kerkering when the distraught 24-year-old reliever reached the dugout.
“He just got caught up in the moment a little bit,” Thomson said. “I feel for him because he’s putting it all on his shoulders.”
This was the second postseason series to end on a walk-off error, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Nine years to the day earlier, a wild relay throw by Texas second baseman Rougned Odor on a potential double-play grounder allowed Josh Donaldson to score and give Toronto a 7-6, 10-inning win and a three-game AL Division Series sweep.
Los Angeles ended a postseason series with a walk-off win for the third time after Bill Russell’s single against the Phillies in Game 4 of the 1978 NLCS and Chris Taylor’s homer in the 2021 NL wild card game.
“They held us at bay for eight innings and we just couldn’t push through there at the end,” Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber said.
Nick Castellanos’ RBI double in the seventh off Emmet Sheehan had put the Phillies ahead but Jhoan Duran walked Mookie Betts with the bases loaded in the bottom half, forcing in the tying run.
Tommy Edman singled off Jesus Luzardo with one out in the 11th and took third on Max Muncy’s two-out single that eluded diving shortstop Trea Turner.
“It was very stressful the last few innings,” Edman said. “You knew that every little play meant that much more.”
Kerkering walked Kike Hernandez, loading the bases. Pages, in a 1-for-23 postseason slide, hit what appeared to be a routine grounder, the type every pitcher practices gloving from spring training on.
Philadelphia, wearing its powder blue throwback uniforms on the road for the second straight game, was knocked out in the Division Series for the second straight season while the defending World Series champion Dodgers reached the LCS for the eighth time in 13 years.
Cubs 6, Brewers 0
Matthew Boyd pitched two-hit ball into the fifth inning, and the Chicago Cubs shut down the Milwaukee Brewers for a 6-0 victory Thursday night that pushed their NL Division Series all the way to a decisive Game 5.
Ian Happ, Kyle Tucker and Michael Busch homered for Chicago, delighting a rollicking Wrigley Field crowd of 41,770. Busch went deep for the second straight game and third time in the series.
The Cubs were on the brink of elimination after they dropped the first two games of the NLDS in Milwaukee. But they held on for a 4-3 victory Wednesday before making the most of a sharp performance by Boyd and four relievers in Game 4.
Next up is the finale of the best-of-five series back in Milwaukee on Saturday night. The winner takes on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.
The Brewers, who went 97-65 this season for the majors’ best record, finished with three hits. They were 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position and left 13 on base overall in the series’ two games at Wrigley.
Boyd also started the series opener Saturday. Pitching on three days’ rest, he recorded just two outs while Freddy Peralta worked into the sixth inning in Milwaukee’s 9-3 win.
Given another opportunity, Boyd delivered. The All-Star left-hander struck out six and walked three in 4 2/3 innings.
The 34-year-old Boyd was staked to an early lead when Happ drove a 1-1 fastball from Peralta deep to right for a three-run drive with two out in the first. Nico Hoerner singled and Tucker walked ahead of Happ’s third career postseason homer.
Chicago has gone deep in the first in each of the four NLDS games. It has scored 11 of its 16 runs in the series in the first inning.
It was a big moment for Happ, who went 2 for 21 with 11 strikeouts in Chicago’s first six postseason games this year.
The Cubs had a 3-0 lead when Boyd exited with runners on second and third in the fifth, drawing a huge ovation from the crowd. Daniel Palencia came in and retired Jackson Chourio on a popup to shortstop, ending the inning.
Palencia also worked the sixth in this third win of the playoffs. Drew Pomeranz and Brad Keller each got three outs before Caleb Thielbar handled the ninth.
