Dodgers Advance to NLCS After 11th-Inning Error Seals Win Over Phillies
LOS ANGELES — In a game that will be remembered for its tension and its ending, the Los Angeles Dodgers punched their ticket to the National League Championship Series with a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night — but not before 11 innings of razor-thin margins and a chaotic final play that ended the Phillies’ season.
With the score knotted at 1-1 in the bottom of the 11th inning at Dodger Stadium, Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering faced rookie Andy Pages with the bases loaded and two outs. What should have been a routine comebacker turned into postseason heartbreak.
Pages hit a weak grounder back to Kerkering, who misplayed it slightly but had time to recover. Instead of tossing to first for the final out, Kerkering attempted a rushed sidearm throw home — the ball sailed wide of catcher J.T. Realmuto, allowing pinch-runner Hyeseong Kim to cross the plate and end the game.
“I was surprised he threw it home,” Kim said through a translator. “I just ran as hard as I could.”
The error handed the Dodgers a walk-off win and a 3-1 victory in the best-of-five National League Division Series. They’ll now advance to face either the Chicago Cubs or Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS.
Pressure-Filled Baseball at Its Finest
For much of the night, both teams’ pitching staffs traded blows, stifling opposing hitters and piling up strikeouts. Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow was dominant over six innings, giving up just two hits and striking out eight.
“Everyone contributed,” Glasnow said postgame. “It was a great game.”
Dodgers rookie Roki Sasaki followed with three innings of hitless relief, topping 99 mph on the radar gun and shutting down the heart of Philadelphia’s lineup. Emmet Sheehan and Alex Vesia rounded out a four-hit effort from Los Angeles pitchers, with Vesia eventually earning the win.
A Game of Inches
The Phillies broke through first in the seventh inning when Nick Castellanos lined an RBI double off Sheehan, giving Philadelphia a 1-0 lead. But that advantage didn’t last long.
In the bottom half of the inning, Dodgers slugger Mookie Betts worked a bases-loaded walk off Jhoan Duran, forcing in the tying run and keeping the momentum with Los Angeles.
“I just wanted to stay patient,” Betts said. “Big moment. Gotta trust the strike zone.”
Neither team scored again until the decisive 11th.
“They Cracked. We Didn’t.”
As the final ball sailed past Realmuto and Kim touched home plate — having initially overrun it — the crowd of over 50,000 at Dodger Stadium erupted. Will Smith, doused in celebratory beer, summed it up simply.
“That was a nail-biter,” Smith said. “They cracked. We didn’t.”
Phillies manager Rob Thomson consoled the 24-year-old Kerkering in the dugout after the devastating mistake, wrapping an arm around the young pitcher as the Dodgers celebrated on the field.
“He just got caught up in the moment,” Thomson said. “I feel for him because he’s putting it all on his shoulders.”
A Rare Walk-Off Ending
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this was only the second time in MLB postseason history that a series ended on a walk-off error. Coincidentally, it came exactly nine years after Rougned Odor’s wild throw allowed Toronto to win an ALDS series against Texas in extra innings.
This marks the third time in franchise history the Dodgers have ended a playoff series with a walk-off: Bill Russell’s single in 1978, Chris Taylor’s dramatic home run in 2021, and now Kerkering’s errant throw in 2025.
What’s Next
The Phillies, wearing their powder-blue throwbacks for the second straight game, now head home facing the same disappointment they endured last postseason — knocked out in the NLDS for the second year in a row.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers prepare for the NLCS — their eighth in the last 13 seasons — with eyes firmly fixed on a return to the World Series.
