The moment was just too big for Philadelphia Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering.
Philadelphia was eliminated on Thursday with an extra-inning loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of their NLDS playoff series. The game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. went 11 innings before the Dodgers finally pulled out a dramatic victory.
After Phillies pitcher Jesus Luzardo put runners on the corners with two outs in the 11th, Philadelphia turned to Kerkering to get the final out of the inning. Unfortunately, he was unable to do so.
Kerkering walked Enrique Hernandez on six pitches and then faced Andy Pages, who proceeded to hit a broken bat bouncer back the mound. Having failed to field the ball cleanly, Kerkering appeared to panic and made the shorter throw to the plate instead to try to get the out there.
But Kerkering’s throw sailed wide, and Dodgers runner Hyeseong Kim scored the winning run in dramatic fashion. Here is the video.
CHAOS AND THE DODGERS ARE GOING TO THE NLCS! pic.twitter.com/kKdgNUeFRE
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 10, 2025
Kerkering still had plenty of time to get the out at first base, and Phillies catcher JT Realmuto was even pointing to first as the throw came in. Even if Kerkering’s throw was on the money, it looked like Kim (who was off on first contact with two outs) would have touched the plate first.
That was a horrible way for the season to end for the 96-win Phillies and Kerkering, who was seen being comforted by teammates and manager Rob Thomson after the error. But the Phillies mishandled several key moments over the course of the series, so Kerkering’s error wasn’t ultimately the difference between them winning and losing.
