The Philadelphia Phillies saw their season come to an end in catastrophic fashion on Thursday, Oct. 9 when reliever Orion Kerkering threw wide of home plate with two outs and the bases loaded for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the bottom of the 11th inning. The Dodgers won 2-1 in Game 4 of the National League Division Series matchup, punching their ticket to the Championship Series for the second year in a row.
Here are the winners and losers from a razor close Game 4 that saw excellent pitching and came down to team defense.
Winner: Tyler Glasnow
Dodgers’ starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow blanked the Phillies for six innings, striking out eight batters on just 83 pitches. Glasnow issued two hits and three walks but didn’t let the Phillies string a rally together.
Despite his reputation as a strikeout pitcher, he also managed to retire batters with efficiency, preventing them from drawing out at-bats that could’ve helped the Phillies figure him out. The Dodgers have had a shaky bullpen this season, but Glasnow helped prevent that weakness from costing them in an 11-inning affair with his strong start.
Winner: Cristopher Sánchez
Like his Dodgers’ counterpart, Phillies’ starter Cristopher Sánchez deserves credit for his effort in a must-win game. The 6-foot-6 right-hander allowed one run across 6.1 innings against a lineup with three former MVPs, and Sánchez doesn’t deserve full blame for that run.
He ran into trouble early in the seventh, allowing a walk and a single after recording the first out of the inning, but it was reliever Jhoan Durán who allowed the charged run to cross after walking Mookie Betts with the bases loaded.
Sánchez struck out five batters on 95 pitches and didn’t allow any extra base hits, an excellent performance on short rest against a team he faced on Saturday, Oct. 4.
Loser: Orion Kerkering
Poor Orion Kerkering. The 24-year-old reliever induced a comebacker with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th but struggled to field the ball cleanly. He then rushed a throw home to catcher J.T. Realmuto, who was signaling for Kerkering to make the easier play to first.
The throw was off the line, Realmuto wasn’t ready for it, and it probably wouldn’t have beaten pinch runner Hyeseong Kim to the plate anyway. So ends the Phillies season, and perhaps their time with this core group of players. Kerkering owned the play in a postgame interview.
“It just hit off my foot,” Kerkering said of his fielding attempt. “Once the pressure got to me, I just thought it was a faster throw to J.T., a little quicker throw than trying to throw cross the body to Bryce [Harper at first].”
Realmuto showed his support for Kerkering after the game.
“I knew that a 24-year-old kid like that is probably feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders after that play,” Realmuto said.
Loser: Phillies’ Lineup
The Phillies had 11 innings to pick up a hit. They managed just four in their season-ending loss. Trea Turner and Bryce Harper, whose contracts combine for more than $600 million, went a combined 0-for-9 with one walk; MVP candidate Kyle Schwarber went 1-for-5 and, had Dodgers’ pitcher Emmet Sheehan not committed an error of his own, the Phillies might not have plated a single run.
The Phillies went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base, a thoroughly insufficient effort in a must-win game from a lineup expected to be the team’s strength.
