In what has to be one of the most painful endings to a postseason series in baseball history, the Philadelphia Phillies were eliminated from the playoffs Thursday on a bizarre error by 24-year-old righty relief pitcher Orion Kerkering, who had just entered the game in the bottom of the 11th inning one batter earlier.
But was it the third-year pitcher’s miscue that allowed the Los Angeles Dodgers to reach the National League Championship Series for the second year in a row, and seventh in the last 10? Or did the debacle that ended the Phillies’ season come down to a highly questionable decision made by fourth-year manager Rob Thomson just moments earlier?
Kererking entered the game in relief of seven-year veteran Jesús Luzardo who had already recorded two outs in the bottom of the 11th in the 1-1 game. Luzardo, a lefty, had allowed two singles in the inning, and Thomson brought in Luzardo to face Enrique “Kiké” Hernandez.
After Max Muncy, who had the second base hit off Luzardo, took second base on a defensive indifference, Kerekering ran the count full on Hernandez before missing very low and away to walk the bases loaded.
But Kererking still could have ended the inning by retiring Andy Pages â and it looked like that would happen when he induced Pages to bounce a soft grounder back to the mound.
Phillies Pitcher Experiences Brutal Meltdown
Unfortunately for Kererking and the Phillies, that’s when the chaos began.
First Kererking bobbled the ball. But he still had time to retire Pages at first. Instead, the young hurler made another mistake, this one mental, by throwing home instead.
Not only would the ball have been to late to force out Hyeseong Kim with the walk-off winning run, but Kerkering’s throw sailed far to the left of catcher J.P. Realmuto.
The game, and the Philadelphia season in which they won 96 games, second in MLB only to the Milwaukee Brewers’ 97, was over.
But why was Kerkering in the game in the first place?
Luzardo had thrown 30 pitches â 21 for strikes â but needed just one out to get out of the jam. The 28-year-old was making a rare bullpen appearance, but was one of the Phillies’ top starters all season, and clearly had the edge in experience over the much younger Kerkering.
Luzardo had already pitched in four postseason series â three for the then-Oakland Athletics and one with the Miami Marlins â and while his success was not great (a 4.84 ERA, including this years’s postseason and 0-4 record) he would not be overwhelmed by the moment â which in postgame interview, Kerkering essentially admitted that he was, noting “that pressure got to me.”
Thomson Gives Rationale for Fateful Decision
So what was Thomson’s rationale for pulling Luzardo?
“Just with the two righties, and (Luzardo) had 30 pitches on him with three days rest. I didn’t want to push him too much further,” Thomson said, as quoted by The Sporting News. “Going into the game, I thought about just one inning for him, really, because it’s kind of his side day. But he was so efficient in the first, we decided to bring him back out for a second.”
Whether Thomson’s reasoning behind not allowing Luzardo to finish that second inning of work holds up is something that Phillies fans and media will be debating at least until March 26, when Philadelphia opens its next campaign for the third World Series in franchise history â a history that goes back to 1883, just seven years after the founding of the National League itself – at home against the Texas Rangers.
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