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In today’s SI:AM:
A game never comes down to one play, until it does
The Phillies saw their postseason run, and possibly their championship window with this particular core, come to a crushing end on Thursday in an extra-innings loss to the Dodgers.
The Dodgers won the National League Division Series on a walk-off error in the bottom of the 11th. With two outs and the bases loaded, Andy Pages hit a dribbler back to the mound, where relief pitcher Orion Kerkering should have collected the ball and made an easy throw to first, sending the game to the 12th inning.
Instead, it all fell apart for Kerkering. First, he mishandled his initial play on the ball, which must have added to the anxiety already welling up in the moment. When he finally grabbed the ball, he looked home, where catcher J.T. Realmuto was signaling to him to throw to first for the easy out. Instead, Kerkering fired an errant throw home, which Realmuto couldn’t corral, allowing Hyeseong Kim to score from third.
Two factors added insult to injury. First, images showed that Kerkering really had all the time in the world to make the throw to Bryce Harper at first base and end the inning. Second, it appeared as though Kim missed touching the plate on his run home. If Kerkering’s throw home had been on line, Realmuto might have been able to tag Kim and still sent the game to the 12th.
It was a mistake of historic proportions, and one that Kerkering will never forget. But as painful as it is when one play ends a season, this game was not solely lost on the reliever's shoulders.
The Phillies had a 1–0 lead heading into the bottom of the 7th with starter Cristopher Sánchez still on the mound. After allowing two base runners and getting one out, Sánchez was pulled so the team’s usual closer, Jhoan Duran, could take over in the high-leverage situation.
Duran got a groundout, and then the Phillies intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani to load the bases for Mookie Betts. After Betts worked the count full, he held off on the sixth pitch of the at-bat—a ball high out of the zone—pushing in the game-tying run on a walk. In that spot, Duran simply has to throw a strike. But the game wasn’t over, so there was still time for the Phillies to recover.
The teams continued to trade scoreless innings until the heart of the Phillies’ order was at the plate in the top of the 11th. The team with the highest collective batting average in the National League had their best bats at the plate with a chance to build a lead in extra innings that would keep their playoff hopes alive. Kyle Schwarber grounded out. Harper walked. Alec Bohm lined out to center. And finally pinch hitter Harrison Bader struck out after a 10-pitch at-bat. But the game wasn’t over, so there was still time for the Phillies to recover.
And then in the bottom of the inning, Kerkering had his fateful error. From that mistake, the game was over. There was no more time for the Phillies to pull through.
As the Phillies walked off the field in disbelief, manager Rob Thomson stopped Kerkering at the steps and spoke with him for a bit, giving him some words of consolation. After the game, Thomson said, “I feel for him because he's putting it all on his shoulders. But we win as a team and we lose as a team."
As hard as it is to believe in the moment, Thomson is right. There were so many chances on Thursday where any member of the Phillies could have made a play that put their team in a better position to win the game. There were countless times in Philadelphia’s losses in Game 1 and Game 2 where they could have made a play to change the outcome and prevent Thursday’s Game 4 from being do-or-die. In the 162-game season, there were thousands of at-bats and hundreds of runs scored and allowed, any one of which could have flipped a few games and put the Phillies into the No. 1 spot in the postseason and avoided an NLDS clash with the Dodgers.
While all of those other moments could have changed the future, the biggest thing they had was a guaranteed moment after. What made Kerkering’s mistake unique was that it was final.
Not only are the Phillies done for this year, but they also face an offseason with plenty of decisions about how much of this core they will keep together. Will they pay Kyle Schwarber, fresh off his best season as a slugger? How long can they keep their impressive pitching staff intact? How much will the front office feel the need to change after Harper, Schwarber, Realmuto, Trea Turner and Nick Castellanos haven’t delivered another trip to the World Series since 2022?
The marathon of the baseball season is one of the defining aspects of the sport, but it also makes endings much more difficult to process. This one is going to sting for a while, and the next Phillies team that takes the field in 2026 could look pretty different from this current squad.
Elsewhere in Philadelphia fandom, the Eagles lost in a rout against the Giants, who had just one win on the year entering Week 6. It was an ugly loss for Philadelphia: the defense looked utterly lost and the offense was still out of rhythm. But as bad as the loss was, the Eagles have one thing the Phillies no longer do—hope. Their season isn’t over, and there’s still time for them to recover.
Until there isn’t.
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- Tom Verducci analyzes how the splitter has become October’s most dominant pitch, with usage and effectiveness skyrocketing as hitters struggle to square it up.
- Sports Illustrated’s men’s college basketball preseason Top 25 countdown rolls on at No. 16, where a revamped roster featuring elite young talent and a lockdown defense could make this team even more dangerous than before.
- Kevin Sweeney details the Big Ten’s preferred NCAA tournament expansion plan, which includes a “straight seeding” twist that would give major advantages to power conferences.
- Check out five United States Men’s National Team players to watch in the upcoming friendlies against Ecuador and Australia.
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- Sports Illustrated caught up with Jaedyn Shaw to talk about how much she’s loving life at Gotham FC.
The top five…
…things I saw last night unrelated to Philadelphia heartbreak.
5. Ryan O’Reilly goes sicko mode for Preds’ go-ahead goal.
4. Cam Skattebo channels Hulkamania at the Thursday Night Football desk.
3. Jayson Tatum still has a long way to go in his recovery, but he’s already dunking.
2. Buccaneers offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs tells heckling fans to get better material.
1. Jack Eichel finds the net from outer space to force overtime.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Phillies’ Season Ends on a Crushing Extra-Innings Error.
