2 Duds (& 1 Stud) From the Phillies' NLCS Game 3 Loss to the Diamondbacks
By Tyler Maher
Dud: Orion Kerkering
Speaking of bad relief outing, Kimbrel wasn't the only one who failed to do his job.
In fact, Orion Kerkering's outing was even worse. At least Kimbrel recorded an out.
After Philly took a 1-0 lead in the top of the seventh, Thompson brought in Kerkering to pitch the bottom of the frame.
Similar to Kimbrel, Kerkering didn't have it from the get-go. He gave up a leadoff single to Tommy Pham, which was immediately followed by a run-scoring double from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Kerkering then gave up another single to Pavin Smith, and that was all for him.
Marsh said Phillies players spoke with rookie reliever Orion Kerkering to offer encouragement as soon as the game was over. Marsh said he’s eager to see Kerkering back on the mound in any situation because the team has such confidence in him. @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) October 20, 2023
Three batters. Three hits. One run. That's certainly not what you want.
Kerkering had logged 4 scoreless frames in the playoffs prior to this, so it's hard to fault him too much. Bad innings happen, especially for a 22-year-old rookie with barely any MLB experience.
Still, Kerkering picked a bad time to have his first rough outing of the playoffs, especially since it forced Thomson to go to Jose Alvarado an inning early. If Kerkering had done his job, perhaps Alvarado would have been out there for the ninth instead of Kimbrel.