By Matt Loeschman
Mail | X: @MattLoeschman

If you're a Philadelphia Phillies fan, this one was hard to swallow.

An error in the most untimely situation ended the Phillies' season Thursday night as the Los Angeles Dodgers claimed a 2-1 win in 11 innings to take their best-of-5 National League Division Series in 4 games.

A weak comebacker off the bat of Andy Pages with two outs and the bases loaded rolled to Philadelphia pitcher Orion Kerkering who bobbled the ball. Needing only to throw to first base to end the inning, Kerkering instead panicked and overthrew home plate allowing Hyeseong Kim to score the series-clinching run.

Kerkering dropped his head in disappointment as the Dodger Stadium crowd went wild. The win moves the Dodgers to the NLCS where they will face either the Chicago Cubs or Milwaukee Brewers.

The Cubs/Brewers series will be decided Saturday in Milwaukee as the Cubs won both games at Wrigley Field, including a 6-0 shutout on Thursday night.

In the American League, the Toronto Blue Jays await the winner of the Detroit Tigers/Seattle Mariners series, which is tied 2-2 after the Tigers won 9-3 Wednesday to force a deciding Game 5 on Friday in Seattle.

The Arizona Cactus League is the spring training home to four remaining teams, including the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners and Milwaukee Brewers. 

Matt Loeschman
Managing Editor | West Valley

mloeschman@iniusa.org

Meet Matt

Matt Loeschman has had two separate stints at Independent Newsmedia. He began as a reporter covering Peoria and later Surprise from 2000-2009. In 2017, he returned to Arizona and INI as the news editor of the Daily News-Sun (now the Phoenix Independent). He previously covered the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League for more than a decade.

Community: During high school football season since 2017, he contributes live postgame radio reports to the AzPreps 365 Friday Night Football Wrapup Show. He supports organizations such as Phoenix Children’s, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Valley and the American Cancer Society.

Education: The University of Texas at Austin majoring in Journalism-News and Public Affairs. 

Random Fact: He can sing and he has been fortunate to meet many famous people during his journalism career including First Lady Hillary Clinton, King of Country Music George Strait and Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey. Attended all 4 home games of the 2001 World Series.

Hobbies: Watching and playing a wide variety of sports, including golf, tennis, pickleball and softball. Playing PlayStation 5, working out, shopping and reading.