Andy Pages, Dodgers capitalize on error to reach NLCS
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Juan Beltran, Contributor
- October 10, 2025
Orion Kerkering boots routine grounder for walk-off error
LOS ANGELES – It was hardly the hit the Dodgers’ Andy Pages wanted. Actually, it wasn’t a hit at all. But Pages’ weak dribbler back toward the mound will be remembered for generations, especially in Philadelphia.
Phillies fans will long lament the walk-off error that pushed the defending World Series champion Dodgers back to the National League Championship Series for the second year in a row. With the bases loaded and Dodger Stadium rocking with anticipation in the 11th inning Thursday evening, Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering induced a weak grounder back to the mound.
For a split second the Phillies had reason to exhale until a routine play was everything but in Game 4 of the Division Series. As catcher J.T. Realmuto pointed toward first base, Kerkering booted the ball, and then it got worse as Dodgers pinch-runner Hyeseong Kim sprinted home.
Kerkering still had more than enough time to execute a play that he’s likely done thousands of times over the years in pitchers’ fielding practice. Instead of throwing to first base for the inning-ending out, Kerkering panicked and threw wildly back toward the mound.
That was enough for the Dodgers to win 2-1, taking the best-of-five series, three games to one.
Not Andy Pages’ ‘best contact’
“All I thought about was how incredible God is,” Pages, a native of Cuba, told the media in Spanish afterward. “It wasn’t even the best contact or the best result. But I was able to end the game with that.”
For only the second time in Major League Baseball history, a postseason series ended with a walk-off error. Enrique “Kiké” Hernandez had one of the best views of the play after drawing a two-out walk to load the bases.
“He hit it, and I thought it was going to go through, so I was trying to beat the ground ball to second base,” Hernandez said. “And when I saw that he booted it, I was hoping that Pages was running hard. I was just trying to go to second base. I expected the throw to go to first.
“And I kind of peeked. I didn’t see (Bryce) Harper trying to catch the ball. And I looked home, and the ball was doing that and the place was going crazy.”
Kerkering’s error ended one of the best pitching duels of the 2025 postseason. Phillies left-hander Christopher Sanchez threw 6 ⅓ innings of one-run ball. Tyler Glasnow countered with six scoreless innings of two-hit ball for the Dodgers.
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Nick Castellanos gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead with an RBI double off Emmet Sheehan in the top of the seventh inning. Mookie Betts drew an RBI walk off Sanchez in the bottom of the seventh to tie the score.
Dodgers rookie Roki Sasaki then pitched three perfect innings, nine up, nine down. The Phillies’ bullpen matched the Dodgers until Jesus Luzardo got into trouble during his second inning of work.
‘Brutal’ play
Tommy Edman started the winning rally with a one-out single to left in the 11th. One out later, Max Muncy singled to center, prompting a call to the bullpen. Hernandez greeted Kerkering with a walk to load the bases. Pages and Kerkering took care of the rest.
As the Dodgers mugged Pages near first base, Phillies manager Rob Thomson greeted his young reliever near the dugout to encourage him to “Just keep his head up,” Thomson said. “He just got caught up in the moment a little bit. Coming down the stretch there, he pitched so well for us. I feel for him because he’s putting it all on his shoulders. But we win as a team and we lose as a team.”
The World Series champions, who now await the winner of the Cubs-Brewers Division Series, appreciated the gift while also feeling sorry for Kerkering.
“It’s brutal,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Obviously they played great defense tonight. It’s one of those things that it’s a PFP, a pitcher’s fielding practice. He’s done it a thousand times. And right there he was so focused, I’m sure, on just getting the hitter and just sort of forgot the outs and the situation.
“Kerkering is a stud. And you definitely feel for a player. I’m obviously happy that we won. But, yeah, he’s had a heck of a year and he’s a heck of a pitcher.”
Juan Beltran
Contributor
Juan Beltran, who immigrated to the United States from El Salvador at 5 years old, is an experienced broadcast journalist
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