There’s no nice way to say it: Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering committed one of the worst errors you’re ever going to see, and cost his team their season.
Kerkering, 24, came on in relief of Jesus Luzardo in the 11th inning of a 1-1 game with two outs and Dodgers base runners on first and third. Things began badly as the reliever walked L.A.’s Kike Hernandez to load the bases.
Next up, Dodgers’ No.9 hitter Andy Pages appeared to do Kerkering a solid by hitting a soft grounder back to the mound that should have resulted in an out and ended the Dodger scoring threat.
But that’s not at all what happened.
First, Kerkering bobbled the ball. Then, he ignored catcher J.T. Realmuto, who was clearly pointing towards first base, and threw the ball home. Except that the ball was way off target and sailed past Realmuto, resulting in a runner crossing the plate and the Dodgers winning the game and the series.
Even with the bobble, Kerkering would have had plenty of time to get the runner at first.
This was just an all-around rough night to be a Philly sports fan. While Kerkering was having his bout of brain flatulence on the mound, the Eagles were getting rolled by a rookie quarterback in New York, and the Flyers lost to the Panthers 2-1.
In any event, the Dodgers are on their way back to the NLCS for the second consecutive year and the fourth time in the last six years. As for the Phillies, they face a long offseason of wondering what might have been.
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