LOS ANGELES — Catcher J.T. Realmuto stood in the lefty batter’s box and extended his right arm toward first. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 11th, reliever Orion Kerkering had plenty of time to toss a comebacker from Dodgers nine-hole hitter Andy Pages into Bryce Harper’s mitt and extend this tightrope walk of Game 4 into another inning, even after the ball went under his glove and hit his foot.
But in the scramble of it all, Kerkering was overwhelmed. He rushed after fumbling the 69.5 mph tapper. He picked up the ball and fired it off-balance toward home in an attempt to get the final out at the plate.