by Mark Langill and Cary Osborne
Some of the guys had been in this position before Thursday night.
Tight game. Late. The opportunity to win it with one swing of the bat.
In fact, one of the guys ended a Dodger postseason game with one swing of the bat.
“When the Phillies brought (Jesús) Luzardo in, it definitely reminded me of that 2018 game when they brought in (Nathan) Eovaldi,” said Dodger third baseman Max Muncy.
Muncy was the baserunner on second base when Hyeseong Kim scored the winning run on Thursday in the 11th inning on a walk-off error. The run gave the Dodgers a 2–1 victory in National League Division Series Game 4 and sent them to the NL Championship Series.
Muncy also ended the longest World Series game in history with a walk-off solo home run in the 18th inning of Game 3 of the 2018 World Series. Muncy hit the home run off Boston’s Eovaldi — a starting pitcher brought out of the bullpen in extra innings.
The Phillies went to Luzardo, a starting pitcher, to pitch in relief beginning in the 10th inning on Thursday. Muncy’s two-out single knocked Luzardo out of the game, and the Phillies turned to Orion Kerkering.
“When they made the pitching change, it was kind of like you feel like you have a chance. And sure enough, we found a way to get it done.”
The Dodgers now have 11 walk-off wins in their postseason history. There are five walk-off home runs — including Muncy’s (and two very memorable World Series blasts). The Dodgers’ walk-off win on Thursday was the first time they won a game on a non-hit.
The list goes …
Oct. 3, 1947, World Series Game 4
A two-run double by pinch-hitter Harry “Cookie” Lavagetto with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning broke up a no-hitter by the Yankees’ Bill Bevens and gave Brooklyn a 3–2 victory. Bevens, who walked 10 batters in 8 2/3 innings, held a 2–1 lead until Lavagetto sprayed his extra-base hit into the right field corner at Ebbets Field with runners on first and second base.
https://medium.com/media/a12f4a34401c0ac1aa5e8bc6bb3636fe/href
Oct. 9, 1956, World Series Game 6
Thursday night wasn’t the first Oct. 9 Dodger extra-innings postseason walk-off win. Sixty-nine years ago, the legendary Jackie Robinson singled to left field off the Yankees’ Bob Turley to score Jim Gilliam from second base and give the Brooklyn Dodgers a 1–0 victory in 10 innings at Ebbets Field. It was the last Major League hit for Robinson, who went 0-for-3 in the Dodgers’ 9–0 loss in Game 7.
https://medium.com/media/f1cd2ff2ff5894b46fc91dc61e554c53/href
Oct. 7, 1978, NLCS Game 4
Just as a potential Game 5 was looming in the best-of-five NL Championship Series against the Phillies in 1978, the Dodgers knocked out Philadelphia in extra innings at Dodger Stadium. Sound familiar? Well, in the bottom of the 10th, Bill Russell’s two-out single to center field off reliever Tug McGraw scored Ron Cey from second base and the Dodgers advanced to the World Series with a 4–3 victory.
Oct. 15, 1988, World Series Game 1
Kirk Gibson limped around the bases after his storybook two-run home run as a pinch-hitter beat the Oakland Athletics 5–4. Gibson, the National League’s 1988 MVP who didn’t start the Fall Classic opener because of knee and hamstring injuries, pulled a full-count pitch from Oakland closer Dennis Eckersley into the Right Field Pavilion.
Oct. 8, 2009, NLDS Game 2
Reserve infielder Mark Loretta, a graduate of nearby St. Francis High School in La Cañada Flintridge, delivered a bases-loaded RBI single for a 3–2 victory over the Cardinals. Trailing 2–1, the Dodgers staged a two-run rally in the ninth that started when St. Louis left fielder Matt Holliday dropped live drive by James Loney that turned the potential game’s final out into a two-base error.
Oct. 15, 2017, NLCS Game 2
Justin Turner’s three-run home run off John Lackey gave the Dodgers a 4–1 victory over the Chicago Cubs. The Dodgers were on their way to the team’s first pennant since 1988, eventually prevailing in five games.
Oct. 16, 2018, NLCS Game 4
Cody Bellinger’s two-out single in the bottom of the 13th inning scored Manny Machado from second base for a 2–1 victory over the Brewers. The win tied the series at two wins apiece, and the Dodgers eventually advanced to their second straight World Series after prevailing 5–1 in the decisive Game 7 at Milwaukee.
Oct. 26, 2018, World Series Game 3
Muncy’s home run leading off the bottom of the 18th off right-hander Nathan Eovaldi ended the 7-hour, 20-minute marathon. Eovaldi, who made his Major League debut with the 2011 Dodgers, had pitched six innings in relief when Muncy hit his 97th and final pitch of the evening at 12:29 a.m., ending the longest Major League postseason game in history.
Oct. 6, 2021, National League Wild Card
In a one-game series, Chris Taylor’s two-run home run off St. Louis reliever Alex Reyes propelled the Dodgers into the NLCS against the Atlanta Braves with a 3–1 victory.
Oct. 25, 2024, World Series Game 1
Broadcaster Joe Davis exclaimed, “Gibby, meet Freddie!” when Freddie Freeman delivered a moment similar to Kirk Gibson’s home run, also in Game 1 of a World Series. Freeman hit a two-out grand slam off Yankees’ left-hander Nelson Cortes in the 10th inning to give Los Angeles a 6–3 victory.
Oct. 9, 2025, NLDS Game 4
Bases loaded. Two outs. Bottom of the 11th inning. Score tied 1–1. Andy Pages hits a dribbler back to the mound to Kerkering. The Phillies relief pitcher can’t glove it at first. He recovers and throws the ball wide of catcher J.T. Realmuto and Kim scores the winning run to send the Dodgers to the NL Championship Series.
2025 Postseason: The 11 Dodger walk-off wins was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.