Some walk-offs feel like a sigh of relief; others feel like a plot twist written in real time. This one was the latter. The Dodgers didn’t just advance — they detonated the 11th inning with tension thick enough to cut. Bases loaded, season teetering, and a hurried grounder off Andy Pages’ bat forced Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering into a rushed, everything’s-moving-too-fast moment. The stadium went from held breath to bedlam in a blink. For a night, the familiar October tightness melted into confetti and hugs.
But the history attached to that euphoria gives some fans pause. October 9 marked just the third walk-off win in a postseason clincher in Dodgers franchise history, joining 1978’s NLCS Game 4 and the 2021 NL Wild Card.