LOS ANGELES — 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 Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 on Thursday to win their NL Division Series 3-1.
Kerkering hung his head and put his hands on his knees after his throw sailed past catcher J.T. Realmuto as pinch runner Hyeseong Kim crossed the plate, advancing the Dodgers to the NL Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs or the Milwaukee Brewers.
Realmuto had pointed to first when the two-hopper hit off Kerkering’s glove and rolled just in front of the mound. Fans in the crowd of 50,563 at Dodger Stadium erupted after spending the final three innings on their feet.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson wrapped an arm around Kerkering when the distraught reliever reached the dugout.
Nick Castellanos’ RBI double in the seventh off Emmet Sheehan had put the Phillies ahead, but Jhoan Duran walked Mookie Betts with the bases loaded in the bottom half, forcing in the tying run.
Tommy Edman singled off Jesús Luzardo with one out in the 11th and took third on Max Muncy’s two-out single that eluded diving shortstop Trea Turner.
Kerkering walked Enrique Hernández to load the bases. Pages, in a 1-for-23 postseason slide, hit what appeared to be a routine grounder, the type every pitcher practices fielding in spring training.
Philadelphia, wearing its powder blue throwback uniforms on the road for the second straight day, was knocked out in the division series for the third straight season while the defending World Series champion Dodgers reached the LCS for the eighth time in 13 years.
Thursday was the third walk-off win to clinch a playoff series in Dodgers history and the second against the Phillies (1978 NLCS), according to ESPN Research.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
