Thursday, October 9, 2025

Copyrighted by Sarah Morris, 2025

I don’t believe what I saw! However, in eleven innings, the Los Angeles Dodgers inched out the Philadelphia Phillies 2-to-1 to advance to the NLCS.

Tyler Glasnow proved he was a dawg. Roki Sasaki pitched well for three innings in relief. If Emmet Sheehan hadn’t committed an error in the seventh, the Dodgers would have won the game in nine innings.

Orion Kerkering, a young pitcher, forgot he had two outs in the eleventh. With bases loaded, Kerkering threw wildly to the plate, allowing Hyeseong Kim to score. As a Dodger fan, I am happy that the Dodgers win, but I feel sorry for the young Philly pitcher.

This season, I haven’t seen a more exciting game, and I have watched about 193 games. Nowadays, pitchers seldom duel for six innings, especially during the postseason.

Before the game, Glasnow had a reputation for falling apart in high-stress games. On Thursday, he was fantastic for six innings. He didn’t blink in a possible win-all game. He allowed only two hits and issued two walks while striking out eight. At no time during his six innings was he in trouble.

Emmet Sheehan allowed two hits and committed a crucial error that allowed the Phillies a crucial run. However, he got out of the trouble.

Immediately, the Dodgers tied the score in the seventh. With an out, Alex Call walked and advanced to second on Kiké Hernández’s single. The slumping Andy Pages grounded to first to advance the runners in scoring position. The Phillies walked the slumping Shohei Ohtani to load the bases. Against their closer, Mookie Betts walked to score Call to tie the score.

Before the postseason began, no Dodger fan thought Roki Sasaki would be on the roster. He struggled as a starter in his first major league season. In late May, he had a right shoulder impingement that put him on the IL. He responded slowly to treatment. As late as September, he struggled in Triple-A as a starter.

Since the Dodgers had major bullpen problems, they tried Sasaki as a reliever. He has been brilliant in this important role. On Thursday, Sasaki retired nine Phillies, all he faced. Without Sasaki, the Dodgers probably wouldn’t have won the NLDS.

Alex Vesia pitched a scoreless eleventh.

On Thursday, the Dodgers played brilliant defense, making the Phillies hit the ball to create scoring opportunities. With the Dodgers’ pitching, the Phillies couldn’t create many scoring opportunities.

It looked like the Dodgers would waste another scoring opportunity in the bottom of the eleventh. After Freddie Freeman struck out, Tommy Edman singled. Will Smith lined out. Hyeseong Kim ran for Edman. Max Muncy singled Kim to third. Kiké Hernández walked to load the bases. If the young pitcher hadn’t panicked, the Dodgers wouldn’t have won the game.