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“It’s humbling,” Sullivan said on winning his first game with the Rangers. “It’s an incredible honor to be the coach of the New York Rangers. It’s a franchise that has such history to it. For me it’s just a privilege that I don’t take for granted. I’m excited about the group of players that we have here. 

“There’s been a certain enthusiasm on the team that has been really rewarding from a coaching standpoint. It’s tangible, we can feel it. We get the first win, it means a lot to me, J.T. (Miller) gave me the game puck, which was nice.”

No, he didn’t.

Yes, they did!

No, Philadelphia Phillies’ reliever Orion Kerkering did not just botch a grounder and throw it away with the season on the line!

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

Clinched, just in time.

Read more:Dodgers defeat Phillies in a wild, instant-classic walk-off to reach the NLCS

Clinched, while the other guys were clenching.

With their backs quickly approaching the wall, faced with a loss that would return the series to Philadelphia for a deciding Game 5, the Dodgers dug in and lashed out and ultimately suffocated the talented and favored Phillies to take a three-games-to-one series win and clear the way toward their second consecutive World Series title.

And they did it thanks to a mad, mindless throw from a frozen, frightened reliever.

Has any postseason series ended with such an error?

“It’s brutal,” acknowledged Dodger Manager Dave Roberts.

It happened in the 11th, after Tommy Edman hit a one-out single to left, then moved to third one out later on a single by Max Muncy. Kiké Hernández walked to load the bases, bringing up the struggling Andy Pages, who entered the day with an .053 playoff average and had gone hitless in four previous at-bats.

He proceeded to hit into his fifth out… except Kerkering muffed the grounder. When the pitcher finally picked up the ball, he still had plenty of time to throw out Pages at first, and catcher JT Realmuto gestured for him to throw it to first... but he didn't throw it to first. Instead, he panicked and threw it home, launching it far over Realmuto’s head.

“Once the pressure got to me, I just thought there's a faster throw to JT… little quicker throw than trying to cross-body it to Bryce (Harper),” said Kerkering afterward. “So just a horses— throw… honest mistake. Just it's baseball, s— happens.”

Pinch-runner Hyeseong Kim scored the winning run as Kerkering stood slumped on the mound with his hands on his knees while the Dodgers danced wildly across the field around him.

“I mean, when this happens, it's like your entire world comes to a stop,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. “It's just a thud.”

One man’s thud is another man’s triumph, and the Dodgers will now be shouting their way deep into October, advancing to the National League Championship Series, where they will be heavy favorites against either the Milwaukee Brewers or Chicago Cubs.

A victory in that seven-game set will land them back in the World Series, where they will be even heavier favorites against whatever inferior team the American League can muster.

Yeah, the rest of their journey should be the easy part, the Dodgers already conquering their Goliath equal in a Phillies series that was essentially the World Series.

“It was a war,” said Roberts. “It was a battle.”

Remember last fall when they defeated the San Diego Padres in a tense five-game fight before cruising to the title? This was that. This was the two best teams in baseball. This was the Dodgers once again swallowing all the pressure and refusing to relent.

After a breathtaking six-inning scoreless pitching duel between the Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow and the Phillies’ Cristopher Sanchez, the Phillies struck first in the seventh with a single, an error by reliever Emmet Sheehan, and a double by Nick Castellanos.

The Dodgers countered in the bottom of the seventh with two walks and a single followed by a bases-loaded walk drawn by Mookie Betts against closer Jhoan Duran.

This set the stage for the Error Heard ‘Round The World, which shouldn’t obscure the fact that the Dodgers played hard enough to earn this victory without an asterisk.

Glasnow, maligned throughout his two Dodgers seasons for a lack of resilience, was brilliantly tough, giving up only two hits with eight strikeouts in six scoreless innings.

“What he did, it was his time today,” said Roberts. “Today was his moment. And I was just very happy to see that he rose to that occasion.”

Roki Sasaki, struggling with injury and ineffectiveness throughout his rookie season, was equally as brilliant with three perfect innings.

“Oh, my gosh. You're talking about one of the great all-time appearances out of the pen that I can remember,” said Roberts.

Then there were the great plate appearances in the 11th inning that laid the groundwork for the error. Edman’s single came with two strikes, Muncy’s single came against a left-hander, and Hernández worked a six-pitch walk with the final two balls coming with two strikes.

“It was just a great inning,” said Roberts. “Again, we just kept fighting.”

Before these playoffs there was a lot of talk about the Dodgers’ late-season struggles that were symbolized by that blown no-hitter in Baltimore. They had no bullpen depth. They had no offensive patience. They were headed for another early October exit.

It turns out, that’s what outsiders thought. That’s clearly not what the Dodgers thought.

“I think it boils down to the guys we have in the clubhouse,” said Muncy earlier this week in a pregame news conference. “We have a lot of experience, a lot of really good players. We've been there before. We accomplished it.”

Read more:Dodgers defeat Phillies in 11-inning thriller to advance to NLCS

They were impressive in the four games against the Phillies. Here’s guessing they’re going to get even better before the month ends.

“I still think there's another gear in there,” said Muncy. “I don't think we fully reached where we can be at. And that's not saying we are, and that's not saying we aren't. But I still think there's a whole other level in there we haven't reached yet.”

The Times’ Bill Shaikin quickly asked, “What would tell you you've reached it?”

“I think you would know,” said Muncy.

The media laughed. The baseball world shivered.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are heading back to the National League Championship Series after an extraordinary error from Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering ended his team’s season.

With the scores tied at 1-1 and the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning, the Dodgers’ Andy Pages hit a routine grounder to Kerkering. But the 24-year-old fumbled the ball and, instead of going to first for an easy out, he threw it wide of catcher JT Realmuto at home plate as Hyeseong Kim scored the winning run. The 2-1 win sealed a 3-1 series victory for the Dodgers, who will face either the Milwaukee Brewers or Chicago Cubs for a place in the World Series.

Kerkering slumped in despair after his error and was comforted by manager Rob Thomson.

The Phillies had gifted the defending champions their other run in the seventh when Jhoan Durán walked Mookie Betts with the bases loaded allowing Justin Dean to score. The Phillies had taken the lead at the top of the inning when Max Kepler scored off Nick Castellanos’s double.

It was another frustrating end to a season for the Phillies, who were the No 2 seed in the National League after winning the NL East. Despite an excellent rotation and a strong batting lineup they have lost in the NLDS two years in succession; last year they were eliminated by NL East rivals the New York Mets. They also lost in the 2023 NLCS to the Arizona Diamondbacks, despite at one point holding a 3-2 series lead.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, are into the NLCS for the eighth time in 13 seasons.

‘It's the worst feeling': Another Phillies season ends far too soon originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

LOS ANGELES – To a man in the Phillies’ tiny clubhouse following their 11-inning, season-ending 2-1 loss to the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, it didn’t come down to pitcher Orion Kerkering throwing the ball errantly towards home with the bases loaded after he bobbled a come-back grounder, allowing the winning run to score. That was just a play in the series, in which the Dodgers advanced by winning three of four. There were other opportunities missed, hits that weren’t had, runners that were left stranded, plays that weren’t executed. Not a ton of them, as this was a really well played series between two of the best in baseball, but enough that putting the series loss on that one play wasn’t justified, in their eyes.

A wonderful pitcher’s duel in which both teams got terrific outings from their starters, multiple pressure packed innings from their relievers and splendid defensive gems, ended on a play that will be remembered for a long time in the Philadelphia area.

Kerkering came into the game in the 11th with two outs and runners on first and third. After walking Kike Hernandez, Kerkering got a swinging strike on Andy Pages with a 97 mph sinker. Pages then hit the next pitch right back to Kerkering, who bobbled the grounder but still had plenty of time to get the out at first, with catcher J.T. Realmuto calmly pointing that way. But the moment got to Kerkering, and when he gathered the ball, he threw it well wide of Realmuto at home and the Dodgers advanced to the NLCS with the hard-fought win.

“Just kind of the pressure got to me. Just in the moment,” said a distraught Kerkering.

As many said throughout the somber clubhouse following their final game of the season, that play didn’t define the series. Their top three hitters in Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper were offensively inept again Thursday, going 1-for-14 with four strikeouts and three runners left on base. There was a bases-loaded walk by Jhoan Duran that tied the game in the seventh inning after the Phillies purposely loaded the bases by intentionally walking Shohei Ohtani. There were seven runners left on base, a wasted wonderful starting outing from Cristopher Sanchez and a few more tidbits here and there. And that’s just Game Four. Add to that the many chances the Phillies had to not get into a 2-0 hole with losses at home to begin the series and the contemplation among the players makes sense.

“You either win or lose,” said Turner, who went 4-for-17 in the series with three RBI. “I don’t care how it ends, who it is, what it is. It doesn’t matter. At the end of the day losing sucks. It’s the worst feeling. It sucks. I felt like we played a really good team and we played really clean baseball for a lot of innings. I felt like we had some more opportunities offensively, myself included. If those things go one way or the other in a few of these games, who knows what happens. We lost and we have to do better.

“When you’re facing elimination, you can’t afford to have a single bad game or really a single bad at-bat. They all count. They all feel really big. Who knows what happens if you hit a single here or there or get a walk here or there. Who knows what happens. I think we all feel that. We want to be that person up there in those situations and we didn’t get it done. That’s on me and on us.”

The Phillies took the lead on Thursday in the seventh when Max Kepler scored on an RBI double by Nick Castellanos down the left field line. It was the first run of the game and appeared as if it may be enough to even the series and send it back to Philadelphia.

But it was quickly wiped out in the bottom of the inning, amid a very controversial call. Sanchez got Will Smith to ground out to short on a wonderful play by Turner. Then, after a missed called third strike by home plate umpire Mark Wegner, Alex Call walked. Sanchez then gave up a single to Kike Hernandez, and his day was over. On his way off the mound, he had some words for Wegner, who answered back to Sanchez.

“He knows he missed it because he told me and he apologized to me,” said Sanchez. “But a lot of pressure, important game, important situation, you can’t miss those things. You can’t miss those calls. I get it with the added pressure and all, but the pitch was a strike. So that’s going to stick in the back of his mind, there.”

Manager Rob Thomson brought in closer Duran to close out the inning and he got Pages to ground out to first, putting runners on second and third with two outs. The Phillies then gave Ohtani the free pass to load the bases before Duran walked Mookie Betts on six pitches to bring home the tying run.

“That’s Jhoan’s first career bases loaded walk,” Thomson said. “So, you’re not expecting that.”

Just as no one involved with the Phillies expected them to be ousted by the Dodgers in four games. Though they are the defending champs and still a very solid team, many truly believed this was the Phillies year.

The hugs and tears and disappointment in the clubhouse was all there to see, with the heavy cloud of free agents Schwarber, Realmuto and Ranger Suarez hanging in the air.

“It doesn’t feel good,” said Schwarber, his lips quivering in emotion. “You make a lot of different relationships in the clubhouse. You don’t know how it’s going to work out. You just make so many personal relationships with guys and you spend how much time with these guys throughout the course of the year and they become family and you just never know how it’s going to go. These guys know how I feel about them. I got a lot of respect for the guys in here, the organization, the coaching staff, everyone, top to bottom. This is a premier organization, and a lot of people should feel very lucky that you’re playing for a team that is trying to win every single year, and you have a fan base that cares, and you have an ownership that cares, you have coaches that care.”

Schwarber has often been described as the heart and soul of the team due to his steady presence and terrific chemistry with everyone. Realmuto isn’t at all behind in those categories and everyone gravitates towards the sunny disposition of Suarez.

If this isn’t that last run that the primary core of this group has, the somberness sure made a hint that it may be.

“I’m not sure,” said Harper about the future. “J.T. is one of the best catchers in baseball. Our guys love pitching to him, throwing to him. He calls a great game. Had a great year this year, had a great postseason. Schwarbs is one of our team leaders, cornerstone of our organization. I’m not really sure what happens or what goes into this offseason or where we kind of go from here. I think those guys are going to be a main decision for us and main conversation for us as a team and as a club. We love those guys and want them back.”

Thomson, who has the backing of his players to return as this team’s manager, sang the praises of his players during a season that saw them lose their ace pitcher when Zack Wheeler went down in August, and overcame many adversities throughout the season.

“I told them after the game I appreciate what they’ve done all year,” Thomson said. “They prepared, competed, picked each other up. True professionals the entire year. I’m extremely proud of how they went about their business. That goes for the coaching staff, all the support staff. It’s a unique group of people. They win as a team they lose as a team. They support each other. As bad as you feel, it’s good to see them be there for each other.

“When this happens it’s like the entire world comes to a stop. It’s just a thud. It’s just not a good feeling. Especially the regular season, we were really good. We had a lot of wins. We expected a lot more.”

And now comes the offseason of questions and answers, players coming and going. How it all plays out will be seen over the next few months, but this sting will last for a while with this group.

“I know fans are upset, it’s warranted,” said Harper. “We’re upset in here as well. Our daily life is Philly baseball. This is our family in here. This is what we do. We want to win not just for ourselves but for everybody that watches us play as a fan base and everything else. I understand what they’re going through. I’ve lost many playoff series and many games in the playoffs and it’s not fun. I want it more than probably a lot of people. I want to hold that trophy and that’s the goal every single time you get into spring training and that’s going to be the goal for us going into spring training this year.”

For now, that just doesn’t resonate for many. Not yet, at least.

Andy Pages hit a dribbler to the mound.

Orion Kerkering fielded it — then threw away the Philadelphia Phillies’ season.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, that’s how the Dodgers secured a 2-1 walk-off win. On a throwing error from Kerkering. On a ball that went sailing to the backstop to allow Hyeseong Kim to score. On a brutal, confounding decision from the Phillies reliever, that unleashed pandemonium inside Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers won the series 3-1.

And Thursday’s finale became an instant classic.

In what started as a pitchers’ duel between two dominant starters, then morphed into a battle of the bullpens, the Dodgers prevailed with a rally in the 11th. They loaded the bases on singles from Tommy Edman and Max Muncy, then a two-out walk from Kiké Hernández.

Pages came to the plate next, and swung through a first-pitch sinker.

Then, however, came the shocking end.

Pages hit another sinker that dribbled in front of the mound. Kerkerking fielded it and — instead of getting what would have been an almost certain inning-ending out at first — inexplicably turned and threw to home instead.

The ball sailed on him. Catcher J.T. Realmuto couldn’t keep it from going to the backstop. Kim crossed the plate, then went back and stomped on it just to be certain.

Kerkerking bent over in immediate regret, as the Dodgers came pouring out of the dugout to mob Pages near first base.

“I thought he was gonna throw to first,” Pages said through an interpreter in an on-field interview. “But when I saw him throw home, I knew the game was over.”

All afternoon, the tension had been building at Chavez Ravine.

Through six innings, both Tyler Glasnow and Cristopher Sánchez had kept the opposing lineup off the board. In the seventh, both teams broke through with a run after getting relievers onto the mound. And from there, the drama only continued to build, as the clubs went back to trading zeros to force the game into extras.

Long before the end, there were star-worthy moments. Mookie Betts drew a bases-loaded walk off Phillies closer Jhoan Durán to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. Roki Sasaki entered in the eighth for what became three perfect innings of relief, retiring all nine batters he faced.

By the end, it was almost easy to forget about the starting pitching performances that shaped such a quintessential, low-scoring, nerve-wracking October dog fight.

In his first start of the postseason, Glasnow pitched six scoreless in which he struck out eight batters, leaned heavily on a fastball that had extra life, and stranded all six runners who reached base against him.

On the other side, Sánchez matched him step-for-step, flummoxing the Dodgers for the second time this series with six scoreless frames of his own to start the day.

Finally, in the seventh, both lineups found something.

The top half of the inning began with a major decision from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who elected to pull Glasnow after 83 pitches (for context, he had thrown 70 total pitches the previous 18 days) and with the bottom half of the Phillies order due up.

Emmet Sheehan took over, but immediately faced danger. J.T. Realmuto poked a leadoff single to center with a good piece of hitting on a two-strike slider. Then, Sheehan appeared to have gotten a double-play grounder from Max Kepler — only to miss Mookie Betts’ throw while covering first. The ball bounced into the camera well. Kepler advanced to second. The error would prove to be costly. Nick Castellanos roped a line drive just inside the third-base line in the next at-bat, doubling home Kepler to open the scoring.

Sheehan, however, settled down, limiting the damage there with an inning-ending strikeout of Trea Turner.

And even in the face of their first deficit of the day, the Dodgers responded, knocking Sánchez out of the game with one out in the bottom of the seventh after an Alex Call walk and Hernández single.

In an aggressive move from a manager fighting to keep his team’s season alive, Phillies skipper Rob Thomson summoned the flame-throwing Durán for an eight-out save. But he would only get one before blowing the lead, walking Mookie Betts with the bases loaded later in the inning (following an Andy Pages grounder that moved the runners, and an intentional walk to Shohei Ohtani).

From there, the game lay in the hands of both teams’ bullpens.

Sasaki retired all nine batters he faced from the eighth to the 10th. The Phillies also posted three-straight zeros, thanks to some help from what was their projected Game 5 starter, Jesús Luzardo. Alex Vesia stranded a Phillies runner at second in the 11th by striking out Harrison Bader in a 10-pitch at-bat.

Finally, the Dodgers built a rally in the bottom of the 11th.

Edman hit a one-out single off Luzardo, and was replaced by Kim as a pinch-runner. Muncy also singled two batters later, allowing Kim to speed all the way to third. With Hernández up, the Phillies summoned Kerkering for a right-on-right matchup. But after walking Hernández to load the bases, it all came down to Pages.

And, it turned out, a decision from Kerkering that ended the Phillies’ season, and it moved the Dodgers another step closer to a World Series title defense.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.