‘I feel sorry for him’: Phillies manager Rob Thomson on Orion Kirkeling’s walk error
Phillies manager Rob Thomson spoke to the media about Orion Kerkeling’s walk-off error that eliminated the Dodgers from the NL CS.
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MILWAUKEE — The Los Angeles Dodgers survived a magical act by the Milwaukee Brewers, shrugged off bad luck and won a postseason game the old-fashioned way by the end of Monday night.
Riding on the golden arm of Blake Snell and the powerful bat of Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers defeated the Brewers 2-1 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at American Family Field.
While the Brewers hit perhaps the wildest double play in postseason history, emptying their bullpen and trying to shut down the Dodgers’ offense, the Dodgers resorted to traditional methods to win the game.
Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, had one of the best pitching performances of all time in the postseason. He gave the Brewers no chances, facing the fewest batters until eight innings, striking out 10 and allowing just one hit (Caleb Durbin to center field in the third inning). Although he allowed only one fair fly ball to the outfield during the entire game, he showed a dominant performance, causing 11 ground balls.
Snell became the first pitcher in postseason history to strike out more than 10 batters in eight innings and allow one hit with no walks.
“He’s a true ace,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We felt like we were going to give him the ball and he was always going to be essentially the best option on the mound.”
Indeed, there is no hotter pitcher on the planet. Snell has started the last six games, pitching 40 innings, allowing 15 hits and striking out 56 batters for a 0.68 ERA.
Snell went 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA in three postseason starts, allowing just seven hits and striking out 28 batters in 21 innings.
Even though injuries limited him to 11 regular-season starts, Snell was worth every penny of his five-year, $182 million contract in the first year of his free-agent contract.
“I’ve known Blake for a long time,” said Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who drafted and signed Snell with the Tampa Bay Rays. “Having had the opportunity to witness that maturation and that growth over 12 years, we really felt that not only would he help us get our first goal in the regular season, but what he would bring to our staff in October. I think for some of them, it’s literally part of their identity and it’s something they crave more than anything.”
It turned out that the Dodgers needed all of the outs Snell provided. The Dodgers turned to closer pitcher Aki Sasaki in the ninth inning, but he ran into trouble and gave up one run, leaving the game with two outs and runners on the corners. Roberts pulls out Sasaki and goes to veteran Blake Treinen.
Treinen overcame a near stealth play in the fourth inning by walking William Contreras to load the bases and striking out Bryce Turan to end the game.
With the bases loaded and the Dodgers looking to break out the game in the fourth inning, Max Muncy sent Quinn Priester’s cutter 404 feet into the center field wall for a potential grand slam.
Brewers center fielder Sal Frelich jumped to take the ball back, but it hit the yellow stripe and bounced back into his glove.
The Dodgers, who initially thought the ball would go over the fence, froze. And they thought Frelick caught the ball, even though left field umpire Chad Fairchild ruled the ball was in play.
Teoscar Hernandez, who was returning to make the tag at third base, rushed home. Frelick threw a strike to cutoff man Joey Ortiz, and Hernandez, not knowing it was a force play, hit a shot home just past it.
Meanwhile, Brewers catcher William Contreras noticed that Will Smith, who believed the ball was caught and was heading back to second base, sprinted to third base. Smith rushed third. too late.
I’m out at home. Out at third base. Double play.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called for a replay review, which confirmed Hernandez was absent at home.
After the referees assembled, they confirmed that Fairchild had called the ball correctly, that it had indeed bounced off the fence, and that there had been no catch.
The Brewers ran off the field, leaving the Dodgers stunned, and the packed crowd erupted in disbelief at what they had just witnessed.
Technically, it was the same as the routine’s 8-6-2, 404-foot GIDP.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this was the first 8-6-2 double play in postseason history.
“The Brewers are a really good team,” said Friedman, the Dodgers’ director of baseball operations. “They have a good team speed, defense, don’t chase, and put the ball in play. They have a good team speed and good defense.” They do many things well. And I think their depth of depth really helps them last 162 games and put them in a position to be a really competitive team come October. ”
Friedman joked that the Dodgers would have liked to win just the game against the Brewers, considering they were 6-0 against them during the regular season, but of course, those games weren’t played in October.
It’s Dodgers time this year.
And another night, they proved it again.
— Bob Nightengale
Here’s how game 1 played out.
The Brewers had a double with two outs and the bases loaded, taking the lead. However, Blake Treinen struck out Bryce Turan, ending the game.
In the top of the 9th inning, Abner Uribe loaded the bases with two outs, gave Mookie Betts a full-count walk, and added one run, increasing the Dodgers’ lead to 2-0.
The Dodgers left-hander pitched well until the 8th inning, and the Dodgers held a 1-0 lead heading into the 9th inning of Game 1 of the NLCS. Snell struck out 10 and allowed just one hit in eight innings, but will likely be handed over to Roki Sasaki in the ninth.
Blake Snell went through seven scoreless innings, recording a minimum of nine strikeouts. He has thrown 91 pitches, and the Dodgers’ bullpen is quiet, meaning the left-handed pitcher will likely get the ball in the eighth.
Blake Snell faced at least 18 batters through six innings, throwing 77 pitches and striking out eight with no walks. The only hit he allowed came in the second inning, but SNell struck out Caleb Durbin after a single.
With one out in the top of the sixth inning, Freddie Freeman hit a solo home run off Chad Patrick to take the lead in Game 1 of the NLCS.
The home run, which was named last year’s World Series MVP, was Freeman’s first home run of the 2025 Poe season.
With the bases loaded and one out, Max Muncy hit a drive into the center field wall, but the ball bounced off the glove of center fielder Sal Frelich, then hit the wall and was grabbed before falling to the ground, but it was not a caught out ball, but a raw ball. The baserunners were initially confused and held on, but Teoscar Hernandez was thrown out at home trying to score from third base, resulting in a bizarre force-out at 8-6-2.
Will Smith, who still didn’t know what had happened, was unable to advance to third base and was put out on a double play.
Milwaukee right-hander Quinn Priester started the second inning, replacing opening pitcher Aaron Ashby. He gave up a walk to Max Muncy, but a strikeout from Enrique Hernandez prevented the runner and finished the second run.
In the third, Priester held Andy Pages, Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts scoreless. The Dodgers were hitless until the third inning.
Priester has been a revelation for the Brewers this year, posting a 13-3 record with a 3.32 ERA in 157.1 innings pitched.
Brewers opening pitcher Andy Ashby avoided Shohei Ohtani’s lead-off walk in a scoreless first inning, getting Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez, then struck out Freddie Freeman to stop Ohtani.
Ashby, the nephew of two-time All-Star Andy Ashby, appeared in four of the five games in the NLDS versus the Cubs.
MILWAUKEE — Blake Snell will start Game 1 for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will play in Game 2, meaning Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow will not pitch until the series moves to Los Angeles later this week. When asked if he had already decided which games he would start, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts answered, “Yes.”
Does he want to share that information?
“No,” Roberts said with a laugh.
MILWAUKEE — Brewers manager Pat Murphy is fully focused on Game 1, already thinking ahead.
Huh?
The Brewers only have two starting pitchers (for a year and a half, in fact), so they will rely heavily on their relievers to get through a seven-game series that includes just two days off. That means Murphy has to be smart about how he uses them. An extra inning or two in Game 1 or 2 could help Milwaukee pay for that in the future.
“Tonight is a win, but when you get to Game 4 or so, you better pay attention to what you do to the pitchers. That might show up in Game 4 or Game 5,” Murphy said before Game 1.
“Especially Game 3, OK, I just had the day off, how much do you want to spend here? What do you think?” Murphy continued. “You could be exposed there, because right now your mindset is, ‘We’re not playing to win tonight,’ ‘Hey, these (other) guys are gassed, so we have to throw these guys.’ We’ve got to try to protect ourselves from those situations.
“It comes down to depth and the quality of depth.”
This helps explain Murphy’s decision to add Tobias Myers to the NLCS roster and remove Nick Mears. Murphy said Mears is an “incredible” addition to Milwaukee. But he’s good at short spurts, and the Brewers will need someone who can run longer. — Nancy Armor
- Shohei Oriya (left) D
- Mookie Betts(R) SS
- Teoscar Hernandez (R) RF
- Freddie Freeman (left) 1B
- Will Smith(R)C
- Tommy Edman(S) 2B
- Max Muncy (L) 3B
- Enrique Hernandez (R) LF
- Andy Pages(R) CF
- Jackson Chorio(R) RF
- Christian Yelich (l) D
- William Contreras (R) c
- Bryce Turan (L) 2B
- Andrew Vaughan (R) 1B
- Sal Frerick (left) CF
- Caleb Durbin(R) 3B
- Isaac Collins (S) LF
- Joey Ortiz (R) SS
The Dodgers added right-handed pitcher Ben Casparius to the lineup in place of No. 3 catcher Dalton Rushing, apparently indicating that Will Smith should be able to take on more of a role behind the bat in the National League. Smith was limited for much of September and the beginning of the playoffs due to a fracture in his right hand.
The Dodgers will also have veteran left-hander Clayton Kershaw on the roster, despite his turbulent pitching in Game 3 of the National League against the Phillies, giving up five runs (four earned) in two innings.
