LOS ANGELES — Neither the Philadelphia Phillies nor the host Los Angeles Dodgers blinked as the playoff pressure built, inning after scoreless inning. Each team pushed a single run across, forcing extra innings.
Then came one of postseason baseball’s craziest endings.
Orion Kerkering made a wild throw past home instead of tossing to first after mishandling Andy Pages’ bases-loaded comebacker with two outs in the 11th inning, and the third-seeded Dodgers escaped with a 2-1 victory Thursday to win their best-of-five National League Division Series 3-1.
“That was a nail-biter,” beer-soaked catcher Will Smith said in the postgame celebration. “They cracked. We didn’t.”
Kerkering, a 24-year-old right-handed reliever from Southern California, hung his head and put his hands on knees after his throw sailed past Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto as pinch-runner Hyeseong Kim crossed the plate, advancing the Dodgers to the NL Championship Series as their quest to repeat as World Series champions continues.