Dodgers defeat Phillies in 11-inning thriller to advance to NLCS

No, he didn’t.

Yes, they did!

No, it’s inconceivable that Philadelphia Phillies’ reliever Orion Kerkering would botch a grounder and throw it away with the season on the line.

Yes, it happened with the bases loaded and the Dodgers scored to steal a National League Division Series clinching 2-1 victory in 11 taut innings Thursday at Dodger Stadium!

Clinched, just in time.

⚾ Dodgers 2, Phillies 1 — FINAL (11 innings)

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th, Andy Pages hit a dribbler to the mound, but Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering made a bad throw to home plate, allowing pinch-runner Hyeseong Kim to score from third and secure a win.

The Dodgers defeat the Phillies 3-1 in the best-of-five series and advance to the National League Championship Series, where they will play either the Milwaukee Brewers or the Chicago Cubs.

Top of the 11th: Alex Vesia replaced Roki Sasaki on the mound for the Dodgers.

Tommy Edman fielded a grounder off that bat of Kyle Schwarber and made a shovel throw from his glove to Freddie Freeman to get the NL home run champion out at first.

Vesia walked Bryce Harper before Alex Bohm flied out to the warning track in center field.

With Harrison Bader pinch-hitting for Brandon Marsh, a wild-pitch from Vesia allowed Harper to take second base. Vesia then struck out Bader on a 10-pitch at-bat to cap the frame.

Bottom of the 11th: Jesús Luzardo struck out Freddie Freeman. Tommy Edman slapped an eighth-pitch single to left field for the Dodgers’ first hit against Luzardo.

With Hyeseong Kim pinch-running for Edman, Will Smith lined out to deep center field.

Max Muncy then singled up the middle to put runners on the corners with two outs, prompting the Phillies to put right-hander Orion Kerkering on the mound.

Kiké Hernández drew a walk from Kerkering to load the bases.

Andy Pages hit a dribbler to the mound, but Kerkering made a bad throw to home plate and Kim scored to give the Dodgers a 2-1 win and the series.

⚾ Phillies 1, Dodgers 1 — Through 10th inning

Top of the 10th: Nick Castellanos grounded out to third base. Roki Sasaki then struck out Bryson Stott before Trea Turner line out to right field.

Three perfect innings of relief for Sasaki.

Bottom of the 10th: Phillies pitcher Jesús Luzardo struck out Shohei Ohtani on three pitches — Ohtani’s ninth strikeout of the series. Mookie Betts flied out to center field. Teoscar Hernández struck out to end the inning.

⚾ Phillies 1, Dodgers 1 — Through nine innings

Top of the ninth: Facing Roki Sasaki, Brandon Marsh grounded out to second before J.T. Realmuto struck out. Max Kepler popped out to third.

Bottom of the ninth: Facing Phillies reliever Matt Strahm, pinch-hitter Max Muncy flied out to center field. Kiké Hernández struck out and Andy Pages flied out to left field.

⚾ Phillies 1, Dodgers 1 — Through eight innings

Top of the eighth: Roki Sasaki entered the game for the Dodgers and got Kyle Schwarber to fly out to right field. Bryce Harper popped out behind third base and Alec Bohm grounded out to second in the 1-2-3 inning.

Bottom of the eighth: Phillies reliever Jhoan Duran struck out Freddie Freeman. Tommy Edman grounded out to second and Will Smith struck out.

⚾ Phillies 1, Dodgers 1 — Through seven innings

Bottom of the seventh: Phillies shortstop Trea Turner made a diving stop and a spectacular spinning throw to beat Will Smith to first.

Alex Call drew a walk before Kiké Hernández singled to left field, ending Cristopher Sánchez‘s strong start for the Phillies.

Justin Dean entered the game as pinch-runner for Call at second base.

Facing Jhoan Duran, Andy Pages advanced the runners on a ground out to first. Duran then intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani to load the bases.

Duran then walked Mookie Betts to force in Dean and tie the game, 1-1.

Teoscar Hernández struck out to end the inning with the bases loaded.

⚾ Phillies 1, Dodgers 0 — Seventh inning

Top of the seventh: Emmet Sheehan, who took over for Tyler Glasnow on the mound for the Dodgers, gave up a leadoff single to J.T. Realmuto.

Max Kepler hit into a forceout at second that should have been a double play, but Sheehan dropped the throw from Mookie Betts while covering first base for an error. Kepler advanced to second when the ball went into the Phillies’ dugout.

Nick Castellanos then gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead on a double down the left-field line to score Kepler.

Bryson Stott flied out to deep center field before Sheehan struck out Trea Turner for the third out.

⚾ Phillies 0, Dodgers 0 — Through six innings

Top of the sixth: Tyler Glasnow struck out Kyle Schwarber on three pitches. Bryce Harper grounded out to first base before Alec Bohm reached base for the third time today with a single to center field. Glasnow struck out Brandon Marsh on a 97-mph fastball to cap the frame.

Bottom of the sixth: Cristopher Sánchez struck out Shohei Ohtani, who fell to one for 17 with eight strikeouts in the series.

Mookie Betts followed with a single to left field before Teoscar Hernández singled to right. Freddie Freeman then hit into a forceout at second, putting runners on the corners. Tommy Edman grounded out softly to Sánchez to end the inning.

⚾ Phillies 0, Dodgers 0 — Through five innings

Top of the fifth: Tyler Glasnow walked Max Kepler before striking out Nick Castellanos. Bryson Stott struck out just as Kepler stole second base. Trea Turner then grounded out to second for the third out.

Glasnow has given up just one hit while striking out six and walking three over 70 pitches.

Bottom of the fifth: Will Smith struck out before Alex Call singled on line drive to right field. Turner robbed Kiké Hernández of a potential hit with a diving catch at short. Andy Pages grounded into a forceout at third when Alec Bohm threw to second to get Call.

⚾ Phillies 0, Dodgers 0 — Through four innings

Top of the fourth: Bryce Harper lined out to Andy Pages in center field. Tyler Glasnow walked Alec Bohm for the second time this afternoon.

Brandon Marsh then grounded into a forceout at second, with Tommy Edman making a sliding stop before throwing to Mookie Betts at second to get Bohm.

Third baseman Kiké Hernández then made a quick grab on a scorcher just inside the third-base line, making a speedy, one-hop throw to beat J.T. Realmuto to first.

Bottom of the fourth: Teoscar Hernández struck out, Freddie Freeman grounded out to short and Tommy Edman grounded out to second base.

Both teams have just one hit each through four innings.

⚾ Phillies 0, Dodgers 0 — Through three innings

Top of the third: Byson Stott grounded out to second base. Trea Turner grounded out to third and Tyler Glasnow struck out Kyle Schwarber.

Alex Call grimaces after being hit by a pitch on his right foot during the third inning.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Bottom of the third: Alex Call was hit by a 97-mph fastball on the inside of his right foot, but managed to stay in the game. Kiké Hernández hit into a forceout up the middle to get Call at second base.

Cristopher Sánchez struck out Andy Pages before Shohei Ohtani reached base on a fielding error by Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm, advancing Hernández to third. Mookie Betts then grounded out when Bryce Harper made a diving stop and got up to beat Betts to first.

⚾ Phillies 0, Dodgers 0 — Through second inning

Top of the second: J.T. Realmundo lined out to right field, Max Kepler struck out and Nick Castellanos grounded out to second base.

Bottom of the second: Freddie Freeman singled on a liner to right-center field for the Dodgers’ first hit. Max Kepler then made a diving catch in deep left-center field to rob Tommy Edman of potential extra bases.

Will Smith hit into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

⚾ Phillies 0, Dodgers 0 — Through first inning

Top of the first: Dodgers starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow struck out former Dodger Trea Turner. Kyle Schwarber, who hit two home runs in Game 3, doubled on a liner to the right-field corner. Bryce Harper grounded out to first, advancing Schwarber to third.

Glasnow walked Alec Bohm on four pitches before striking out Brandon Marsh on four pitches to stymie the scoring threat.

Bottom of the first: Shohei Ohtani popped out to third base on the first pitch he saw from Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez. Ohtani is one for 15 in the series. Mookie Betts struck out and Teoscar Hernández lined out to Bryson Stott at second.

Dodgers reliever Tanner Scott was removed from the team’s National League Division Series roster on Thursday after having a lower-body abscess incision the night before, manager Dave Roberts announced before Game 4 of the series.

Scott was replaced on the roster by left-hander Justin Wrobleski, and will be ineligible to play in the National League Championship Series under MLB’s postseason injury rules if the Dodgers do advance.

Coming off a dismal regular season in which he had 4.74 ERA and MLB-most 10 blown saves, Scott had yet to pitch, or even warm up, at any point in this postseason.

Then, this week, he began dealing with an abscess in an unspecified area of the lower half of his body.

Roberts said signs of the issue first popped up during the team’s Tuesday night workout. However, leading up to Game 3, general manager Brandon Gomes said the team “thought he was on the other side of it.”

That did not prove to be the case. Scott was not only in too much pain to even report to Dodger Stadium for Wednesday night’s contest, but instead went for an incision procedure that Roberts described as an “urgent matter.”

“He was planning to come [to the ballpark],” Gomes said, “but was like: ‘I gotta go. This is too painful.’”

Gomes said it left the Dodgers with too little time to replace Scott on the roster for Game 3 — and insisted that, even if they had, any of the pitchers they would have replaced him with would have been either unavailable or not “all that fresh” for Game 3 after the team’s extended live batting practice session at Tuesday’s workout.

“[It was a] tight window, and factoring that in, it was like, ‘Let’s just see where we’re at today,’” Gomes said. “And then made the move.”

Of course, not having, or replacing, Scott came with some unexpected consequences in the Dodgers’ Wednesday night defeat; effectively contributing to their need to pitch Clayton Kershaw in relief for a second — and what proved to be disastrous — inning of work in the eighth.

At that point of the game, Anthony Banda and Jack Dreyer had already pitched. The club’s only remaining relievers (Roki Sasaki, Alex Vesia and Blake Treinen, who ultimately pitched the ninth) were of higher-leverage variety.

Roberts would have loved to keep what was a 3-1 score at the time close, and force the Phillies to bring closer Jhoan Durán into the game for a six-out save — one that, Phillies manager Rob Thomson acknowledged postgame, would have left him available for only one inning in Game 4.

“If any,” Thomson added with relief.

But, Roberts didn’t want to use his better relievers in a losing game either.

Thus, Kershaw returned to the mound following a shaky but scoreless seventh inning, and immediately wrote another ugly chapter into his haunting postseason history, giving up five runs that put the game out of reach and allowed the Phillies to stay away from Durán for the final two innings.

“Would have loved to get Durán in the game tonight,” Roberts said.

Gomes attempted to downplay the impact of the team’s delay in removing Scott from the roster, reiterating the notion that — given the live BP before — any replacement would have been unable to make a notable contribution to Game 3.

Still, the situation loomed over the team ahead of another close-out opportunity in Game 4 on Thursday, with the Dodgers only able to hope that their inability to get Durán into the game the previous night wouldn’t end up costing them.

As for Scott, both Roberts and Gomes said the left-hander could be an option for the World Series if the Dodgers get there. His timeline for recovery is roughly 1-2 weeks.

“Obviously, if we advance, it takes him off for the CS,” Gomes said. “And then we’ll see where we’re at after that.”

If Wednesday’s game proves to be the last one in a Dodgers uniform for Clayton Kershaw, it will do little to tarnish his legacy, said teammate Mookie Betts.

“He’s gonna have a statue, so we have to kind of keep that in mind,” Betts said. “In the grand scheme of things, Kershaw is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, one of the best pitchers to ever do it.

“So if you let two innings kind of ruin that, then you don’t know baseball.”

The familiar sound reverberated throughout Dodger Stadium.

Crack!

The baseball soared into the October sky, Shohei Ohtani gliding down the first base line as he watched it travel back, back, back …

… only to be caught a few inches in front of the left-field wall by Max Kepler.

So close.

With the 21st pick of the fifth round of the 2011 draft, the Boston Red Sox selected a high school shortstop named Mookie Betts. The kid, as it turns out, plays a pretty mean shortstop.

With the first pick of the fifth round of the 2011 draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected a Hart High pitcher named Tyler Glasnow.

Fourteen years later, with Betts playing behind him, Glasnow on Thursday gets the chance to pitch his hometown Dodgers into the National League Championship Series.

“It would be awesome,” Glasnow said. “Growing up, loving the team, being able to pitch for them now?

“It would be everything.”

Here are the Game 4 NLDS starting lineups for the Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies:

They had them down. They let them up.

They squeezed them down to their last gasps. They backed off and gave them new life.

In any ordinary five-game playoff series, a team leading two-games-to-none can lose a game and maintain a clear advantage. But the heavyweight happenings here between the Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies is no ordinary series. And by losing a potential clinching Game 3 Wednesday night at a stunned and boo-filled Chavez Ravine, the Dodgers are suddenly and dangerously close to blowing it.

The 8-2 defeat to the Phillies in the National League Division Series factually means the Dodgers still lead two-games-to-one with two more chances to close out their favored foe.

The Phillies seemed rattled. The Dodgers looked confident. And the Chavez Ravine crowd was excitedly smelling blood.

Early in Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Wednesday, the Dodgers had all the momentum. They’d already taken each of the first two games of this best-of-five set in Philadelphia. Their best pitcher this season, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, had started his night with three scoreless innings. The Phillies, most of all, appeared to be pressing, with Trea Turner leading the game off with a curious bunt and Brandon Marsh misplaying a ball in the bottom of the first with an over-aggressive dive that gifted Mookie Betts a triple.

Then, after a questionable pitching change from Phillies manager Rob Thomson in the bottom of the third, Tommy Edman greeted newly inserted left-hander Ranger Suárez with a leadoff home run to open the scoring.

The Dodgers take on the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium on Thursday at 3:08 p.m. PDT.

The game will be televised on TBS, TruTV and HBO Max. Radio broadcasts in the Los Angeles area will be on 570 AM and 1020 AM (Español).

The Dodgers lead the best-of-five series, 2-1.

Here are the latest betting odds for Game 4 of the NLDS:

Here’s the TV schedule for Game 5, if necessary:

Saturday, 5:08 p.m. at Philadelphia | TBS, TruTv, HBO Max