The Phillies, trailing 2-1 in the NLDS, needed a win to stay alive against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. The game was 1-1 at the end of the night and stretched deep into extra innings.  With no margin for error, the game already hits its fever pitch. Then, in the bottom of the 11th inning with the bases loaded and two outs, reliever Orion Kerkering induced a weak ground ball back to the mound to save the inning.  Kerkering couldn’t notice his catcher, J.T. Realmuto’s signal to throw to first in the heat of the moment, and made a wild throw.

The ball sailed away, the Dodgers scored the winning run, and the Phillies’ season was over.

The final throw may be the moment that ended the season, but the first domino fell four innings earlier. Starter Cristopher Sánchez had Dodgers hitter Alex Call in a 2-2 count in the bottom of the seventh and delivered a perfect sinker that appeared to catch the corner for strike three. But home plate umpire Mark Wegner called it a ball. Call walked on the next pitch and eventually scored the tying run. Until then, the Phillies had a 1-0 lead in the game.

The veteran umpire later admitted his mistake, and according to a tweet from Philadelphia Inquirer writer Lochlahn March, “Cristopher Sánchez said the umpire apologized to him for missing the 2-2 pitch to Alex Call in the seventh. What should have been a strikeout became a walk, and that runner went on to score the tying run.” And at the end, where everything will be under scrutiny, it’s a massive mistake that directly changed the course of the entire game.

And after the game, the rookie pitcher Orion Kerkering was brutally honest about his season-ending error. “Shit off my foot. Um, just kind of, once the pressure got to me, just thought it was a faster throw to J.T. [Realmuto], a little quicker throw than trying to cross-body to Bryce [Harper], so. Just a poor, shit throw,” Kerkering said. And about hearing his catcher signaling for the safe play at first base, Kerkering said, “Just in the moment. Just kind of looking up, just be ready to get it.”

But his teammates are well aware of the heat of the moment and support him after the mistake so early in his career. So he said, they said, ” ‘Just keep your head up.’ It’s an honest mistake, just like it’s baseball, shit happens, and ‘Just keep your head up, you’ll be good for a long time to come.’ It’s not my fault that we had opportunities to score.” And about a visit from the manager, Rob Thomson, he said, “It means a lot. Shows they care a lot. Um, means everything, for sure.”

But the Phillies’ loss in the series is far more than one bad throw

Let’s see how the 96-win Phillies, who clinched their second NL East title in 14 years, dropped their series. Their offense gets cold as the highest-paid stars and main offensive power, Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Trea Turner, went a combined 2-for-21 in their first two games.

In Game 1, they couldn’t bring any offense after the second inning against the Dodgers ace Shohei Ohtani in a 5-3 loss. And in Game 2, they fell short of a disastrous managerial decision in the ninth. With the tying run on second and no outs in the ninth, Thomson called for a sacrifice bunt, and the decision backfired due to Max Muncy and Mookie Betts’ masterclasses killing the rally and sealing a 4-3 defeat. And in Game 3, the decision of going with rookie Orion Kerkering in place of Jesus Luzardo for the final out of the innings also backfired because the 24-year-old rookie couldn’t handle the pressure of the moment, which cost them the final run and the season.

But the team and the manager didn’t panic or lose nerve and supported Kerkering in his most crucial moment of the season. That shows the game is way more beautiful than just some on-field rivalry and battle. And with their season finally over, the Phillies have some key decisions to make in the upcoming free agency around their manager, whose contract was extended through 2026, and players like Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, and Ranger Suárez, who are now free agents. It will be interesting to see how they will manage their upcoming free agency and offseason in the coming days.