We hear all the time about the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, but what goes unmentioned is that not all losses are created equal. Some are more agonizing than others, and the one that the Philadelphia Phillies suffered last night has to be in the running for one of the most painful that baseball fans have ever seen.
To set the stage, the Phillies had fallen behind 2-0 in their best-of-five NLDS series against the defending champion Dodgers. Things were looking extremely bleak for Rob Thomson's squad, but then the bats, led by Kyle Schwarber and his two home runs, woke up in Game 3 to get the Phils on the board with an 8-2 win.
Game 4 was a classic pitcher's duel between Cristopher Sanchez and Tyler Glasnow. Each made it through six scoreless innings before Nick Castellanos got to Emmet Sheehan in the top of the 7th with an RBI double, but the Dodgers answered in the bottom half when Mookie Betts drew a bases loaded walk off of Philly closer Jhoan Duran.
Neither team managed another base runner until Bryce Harper walked in the 11th inning, but lefty Alex Vesia eventually stranded him at second by striking out Harrison Bader. That set the stage for a wild finish. Philly brought in Jesus Luzardo (usually a starter), but after he gave up two hits in four batters, Thomson turned to Orion Kerkering to get out of the jam.
Kerkering has been a reliable setup man in his three years in the league, pitching to a 2.79 ERA. This was the fourth consecutive game that he'd come in to face L.A. after having thrown a pair of perfect innings in Games 1 and 3 and being responsible for two earned runs in Game 2.
With two outs and two on, Kerkering walked Kiké Hernandez to load the bases. That's when the agony came in, as he coaxed a broken-bat comebacker from Andy Pages, only to boot it and then throw the ball to the backstop as he hurriedly tried to go home for the force out.
After not fielding the ball cleanly, Kerkering's biggest mistake was throwing home instead of to first, where he would have gotten Pages out with an accurate throw. Even if he was on the money to catcher JT Realmuto, it looks like it wouldn't have been in time to beat the speedy Hyeseong Kim.
You have to feel for Kerkering, and for Phillies fans, for having their season end in such brutal fashion. The hometown radio call from Phillies play-by-play man Scott Franzke lyricized the heartbreak in a sad but beautiful way (disregard the name Scott Wheeler from the tweet).
Phillies radio call of the error. Scott Wheeler can't believe it. pic.twitter.com/V3o6GhPIjK
— Joe Wright (@Sctvman) October 10, 2025
Even in heartbreak, the Phillies handled themselves with class as their season ended
As a Mets fan, I've been on the losing end of these kinds of situations many, many times. Whereas the Phillies had a shocking and sudden end to their dreams this year, the Mets suffered an interminably agonizing months-long slide to end theirs. Even after going through that, I still can't imagine the pain these players, who have dedicated their lives to the sport and have played more than 162 games to get to that point, must feel.
Despite the gut-wrenching way their season came to a close, the Phillies as a group attempted to lift up their young reliever. Former Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (who once ended my Mets' season by freezing Carlos Beltran with a Game 7 NLCS curveball) painted the picture:
The end of the @Phillies and @Dodgers game yesterday was hard to watch obviously because of how it ended. I woke up this morning still devastated for Orion Kerkering. But I’ll tell you what I did see: In a moment of total disbelief and heartbreak that their season ended so…
— Adam Wainwright (@UncleCharlie50) October 10, 2025
Waino's tweet shows us why it hurts so much to lose. Too often we as fans are guilty of pointing fingers and looking for scapegoats, but the reason we care so much is that we form a bond with our teams as they bond with each other. The Phillies had many chances to win that game before Kerkering's error and couldn't get it done. Crazy things can happen in postseason baseball. Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way, but the mark of a great team is one that sticks together even when it doesn't.
This is the second year in a row that the Phillies won the NL East but lost 3-1 in the NLDS with a heartbreaking road defeat. Last year it was a Game 4 Francisco Lindor grand slam that proved their undoing, while this year it was a soft comeback grounder. Now as the Dodgers move on to face the winner of Game 5 of the Cubs-Brewers series in the NLCS, the Phillies are staring at a long, soul-searching offseason. Key decisions will need to be made, as Schwarber, Realmuto and Ranger Suarez are among those hitting free agency. Thomson has one year remaining on his managerial contract, though his return is far from a sure thing after another postseason disappointment.
Kerkering will get through this. He has a promising future ahead, but for now, he has to process being on the wrong end of a play he'll remember forever. Luckily for him, his teammates have his back.