'The Pressure Got to Me,' Orion Kerkering Admits Being Disappointed as His Error Eliminates Phillies from NLDS

The fortune was on the side of the defending champions. In the bottom of the 11th inning, they once again loaded up the bases with 2 outs after Kerkering walked Hernandez.

The big moment came on his 8th pitch of the game. Pages would hit a weak grounder towards the mound. Kerkering would pick up the ball and had a look around all the bases.

Instead of trying to throw out Pages at 1st base as signaled by catcher J.T. Realmuto, he tried to tag out Hyeseong Kim at home plate. Realmuto, who was a bit out of his position, extended his arm to grab the ball. However, the throw from Kerkering was way off the target. His fielding error allowed Kim to reach home plate safely and capped off a walk-off win for the Dodgers.

Following the game, the pitcher expressed disappointment regarding his mistake. While speaking to the reporters, he admitted that it was a “horse****” throw from his end.

The pressure got to me, I just thought there’s a faster throw to J.T., little quicker throw than trying to cross-body it to Bryce. So just a horse**** throw.

Orion Kerkering told the media

This walk-off win was the Dodgers’ 11th walk-off win in postseason history. Their last one was a bit more iconic than this, as it came through a grand slam by Freddie Freeman in Game 1 of the World Series against the New York Yankees last year.

MLB Hall of Famer urges Orion Kerkering to keep his head up following season ending error in Game 4

The Philadelphia Phillies had a disappointing end to a promising 2025 campaign on Thursday. A fielding error from pitcher Orion Kerkering ended their season as they got eliminated from the NLDS. After the game, an MLB Hall of Famer came to his defense and urged him to keep his head up.

The pitcher had very little time to think about his choice. By the time he picked the ball, Hyeseong Kim was just 30 feet away from home, while Andy Pages was 55 feet away from first base. There was a chance that Kerkering could have thrown the ball to first base and gotten Pages out.

In the end, the pitcher ended up throwing the ball wide of the target, resulting in a Dodgers win. As they celebrated wildly on the pitch, he had his head down on the mound as he reflected on his mistake.

While discussing the game on TNT Sports, Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez expressed sympathy for the pitcher and urged him to learn from this mistake, offering some encouraging words.

I actually feel really bad for this 24-year-old. I just wanna tell him, Hey keep your head up. Learn from this mistake. Everybody that has been through baseball understands that even though it was a mental mistake probably, all of us have gone through that. Keep your head up. Don’t give up on yourself.

Pedro Martinez said in his message to Orion Kerkering

Meanwhile, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts labeled that moment as “brutal” for him. He expressed that Kerkering was a “stud” and shared some words after this side advanced to the National League Championship Series (NLCS).

This marked a 2nd straight year where Orion Kerkering and his team suffered an NLDS exit. Last year, they lost against the New York Mets. They have now dropped 10 of their previous 13 postseason games.