Phillies Seasons: 2010, National League East Champions
August 8, 2015
By Scott S.D. Weiss
The Philadelphia Phillies had become the hottest attraction in the City of Brotherly Love, well, for watching games. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins declared the Phillies to be "the team to beat" in 2007 and that team won the National League East on the final day of the regular season. Philadelphia then celebrated a World Series title in 2008 and won the NL pennant again in 2009 before bowing out of the Fall Classic in six games to the New York Yankees.
Who wouldn't be on the Phillies bandwagon, especially in 2010? Following the 2009 World Series, the Phillies announced they would pick up the $9 million one-year option for starting left-handed pitcher Clifton Phifer Lee after a brilliant 2009 postseason (4-0); Lee came to the Phillies in a non-waiver trade before July 31, 2009 and was 7-4 in 12 regular season starts with three complete games.
Brian Schneider signed with the Phillies as the backup catcher. Placido Polanco returned for his second stint with the Phillies, this time as the team's regular third baseman. Pedro Feliz wouldn't be retained after serving as a third baseman the previous two seasons. Pitcher Brett Myers stepped on the hill through good and negative since 2002 and was told to look elsewhere for work in 2010.
Infielder Juan Castro and perceived pinch-hit specialist Ross Gload brought their talents to the Phillies. Reliever Danys Baez joined the Phillies on a two-year contract. Right-handed starter and long reliever Jose "Big Truck" Contreras also signed with the Phillies.
Oh yeah, Harry Leroy Halladay III (known as Roy Halladay) had been perhaps the best pitcher in Major League Baseball at the time and came to the Phillies in an offseason deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. Just when you thought the Phillies would display the most dominant pitching staff in the bigs, Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. sent Lee to the Seattle Mariners for minor leaguers J.C. Ramirez, Tyson Gillies, and Phillippe Aumont. Phillies fans wanted to run Amaro, Jr. out of town from that transaction.
Regular Season
Phillies baseball has been known for slow starts, and that was the case for 2010 as Philadelphia won 12 and lost 10 in April. Halladay received the opening-day start at National Park in D.C. and tossed seven innings in an 11-1 Phillies win as Polanco belted a grand slam and first baseman Ryan Howard hit his 223rd home run as a Phillie to tie for fifth-most in club history. Howard also touched them all the following game in an 8-4 Phillies victory at D.C. As Philadelphia started 2-0 for the first time since 2003.
Hey, the Phillies safely crossed home plate 41 times in their first five games. Halladay's second start resulted in his 150th big-league win and 50th complete game in a 2-1 at the Houston Astros; he was 4-0 in his first month with the Phillies. At one point, the starting rotation didn't allow an earned run for 23 consecutive innings. Sure, the Phillies once dropped out of first place in the NL East for the first time in 136 games, but second baseman Chase Utley posted his 1,000th big-league hit.
May started with Halladay recording his second shutout in a 10-0 Phillies win against the New York Mets. Joe Blanton returned to the starting rotation after starting the season on the disabled list. At 47 years young, Souderton, PA native Jamie Moyer became the oldest pitcher to hurl a complete game shutout with a two-hitter against the Atlanta Braves on May 7.
As May progressed, Philadelphia's offense worsened. Reading the box scores in the paper couldn't be enjoyable when you see zeros for 49 out of 50 innings during one period. In fact, the Phillies failed to score a run in a three-game series at Citi Field versus the host Mets.
On May 29, while Halladay countered Florida Marlins ace Josh Johnson at Florida's Sun Life Stadium, the Philadelphia Flyers visited the Chicago Blackhawks in Game One of the National Hockey League Stanley Cup finals (the Flyers lost, 6-5, and lost the series in six games). Who could blame Philadelphia sports fans for watching the Flyers instead of the Phillies at that point? Well, the Phillies actually scored a run (it was unearned) and the Phillies won, 1-0. Speaking of Halladay, he recorded the second perfect game in franchise history (Jim Bunning tossed the first in a 6-0 win at the Mets in June 1964) with seven three-ball counts and 11 strikeouts on 119 pitchers; it was Halladay's first career no-hitter and the 10th in Phillies history.
Moving on to June, Howard hit a big fly to snap the Phillies' streak of 68 innings without a long-ball. Moyer became the third pitcher in major league history to win 100 games after turning 40, plus he notched his 265th victory on the 24th anniversary of his big-league debut. Halladay even registered his eighth win of the season, but he then lost his next three starts. Gee whiz, tough times happened when the Phillies endured interleague play, especially taking on the for which defeated you for the 2009 World Series title (New York Yankees).
Rollins came back after a few weeks on the disabled list and cracked a walk-off sayonara off Kerry Wood in a 7-6 win against Cleveland on June 23. The next game, catcher Dane Sardinha hit his first big-league jack for the Phillies in a game with plenty of rain (maybe even a funnel cloud) which produced an afternoon Phillies win against Cleveland.
Yeah, in what was supposed to be Halladay's return to the Rogers Centre in Toronto, ON for an interleague series with the Blue Jays, the G-20 Summit in Toronto forced the Blue Jays to move the series to Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies were actually the road team and the designated hitter applied. Halladay earned a 9-0 win against his former team as Gload posted three hits and Rollins drew four walks.
Moyer unfortunately made major league history when he served a home run for the 506th time, the most homers allowed by a pitcher in a big-league career. Utley and Polanco both landed on the disabled list. The Phillies exited June after a 13-13 mark.
July began with a four-game set against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pete Mackanin served as skipper for the first game while manager Charlie Manager sat out on a one-game suspension (arguing with umpire C.B. Bucknor didn't cut it with the commissioner's office). Wow, Halladay tallied his seventh complete-game victory before it got ugly to the point the Phillies were sixth games out of the NL East top spot on July 7. The next night, however, saw Schneider cork a 12th-inning walk-off fence-clearer as the Phillies earned a 4-3 win against Cincinnati.
Man, the Phillies overcame a six-run deficit in the ninth on July 9 versus Cincinnati and managed to win by a 9-7 count. By the way, the Phillies swept that four-game series against the Reds. Also in that series, Cincinnati starter Travis Wood countered Halladay in a game in which Wood didn't allow a baserunner until primary catcher Carlos Ruiz launched a double off the top of the left field wall in the last of a ninth in a 1-0 extra-inning Phillies win (if that ball cleared the fence, not only would the perfect game end, the game would've ended).
Alright, the Phillies received some rest during the All-Star break. When play resumed, the Phillies showed rust by dropping the first two games in a set against the Chicago Cubs (the Cubs won three of four). Struggles continued as Philadelphia dropped four straight at the same time St. Louis stretched its win streak to eight games by defeating the Phillies in the first two games. Thankfully, Polamco hit a two-run homer in the top of the 11th in the series finales a the Phillies earned a 2-0 win at Busch Stadium.
We should mention the Phillies then swept the Colorado Rockies in a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park. Kyle Kendrick defeated Ubaldo Jimenez in one game, and Jiminez was 15-1 at that point with a no-hitter at Atlanta in April (Colorado's first-ever no-hitter). Ouch, outfielder Shane Victorino landed on the disabled list at the end of the month, prompting the Phillies to call-up prospect Domonic Brown to make his major league debut (he doubled for his first hit).
The end-of-the-month wake up produced a 15-13 showing in July. Before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, the rotation featuring Halladay and Cole Hamels added Roy Oswalt from the Astros for a few minor leaguers and starting pitcher J.A. Happ.
Aug. resulted in 18 wins and 10 months but there sure had been some wackiness. The Phillies were never swept in a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park until the Astros did. During that series in one game, Howard was ejected by AAA umpire Scott Barry as left-fielder Raul Ibanez moved to first base and Oswalt entered the game in left field; fans chanted "LET'S GO OSWALT" as he lined into the final out in a 15-inning loss.
Let's look at some of the positives from Aug. Halladay earned his sixth straight victory even though he balked for the first time in five seasons. Longtime Kansas City Royal Mike Sweeney joined the Phillies in a waiver transaction and hit a two-run sayonara in a three-game sweep at San Diego. In the final game of the month, Howard went yard for the first time since July 27.
Sept. started off well when Utley hit three doubles in a 5-1 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 1. Starting the month 7-2 helped the Phillies return to first place in the division for the first time since May. Halladay won his 18th, 19th, and 20th games on the season; 1994 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee and 300-game winner Steve Carlton was the last Phillies pitcher with 20 wins in a season, doing so in 1982.
Don't forget, the Phillies won 11 consecutive games at one point in Sept. Howard reached 30 homers and 100 runs batted in for the fifth straight season. On Sept. 27 in D.C., the Phillies won, 8-0, as Halladay picked up his 21at victory and the Phillies clinched the NL East title for the fourth straight year.
Injuries and offensive inconsistencies among other things made Sept. a nail-biting and exciting month before taking two of three in the final series against Atlanta in Oct. The Phillies won the NL East at 97-65 and second-place Atlanta clinched the Wild Card by defeating the Phillies in the 162nd game. Through thick and thin, the Phillies finished the regular season with MLB's best record for the first time in the 127 years of Phillies baseball.
Swinging the bat resulted in a team batting average of .260 (1,451-for-5,581) with 772 runs, 290 doubles, 34 triples, 166 home runs, 736 RBIs, 560 walks, 2,064 strikeouts, and 108 stolen bases in 129 attempts. Manuel's regular lineup consisted of Rollins at shortstop, Victorino in centerfield, Utley at second base, Howard guarding first base, Polanco holding down third base, Ibanez surrounding left field, Jayson Werth patrolling right field, and either Ruiz or Schneider behind the plate.
Ruiz had the team's highest average at .302 (112-for-371) in 121 games. Howard sent 31 fair souvenirs over the fence while driving-in 108 runs with 157 strikeouts. Werth scored 106 runs, stole 13 bags, knocked-in 85 men, and went deep 27 times.
Victorino recorded 34 base thefts, 84 runs, 26 doubles, 10 triples, 18 homers, and 69 RBIs. Utley had more RBIs (65) than strikeouts (63) while hitting .275 with 75 runs, 20 doubles, two triples, and 18 round-trippers. Polanco batted .298 with 76 runs, 52 RBIs, six homers, two triples, and 27 doubles.
Rollins stole 17 of 18 bases in 88 games. In Rollins' absence, Wilson Valdez filled-in at shortstop and was 86-for-333 with 37 runs, 23 extra-base hits, and 35 RBIs. Brown tallied eight singles, three triples, and two see-years in 62 at-bats (35 games).
Gload posted eight doubles and six jacks in 128 at-bats. Castro lasted 54 games and went 25-for-126, but he'll be remembered as the third baseman to throw the baseball to first base on Ronnie Paulino's groundout to end Halladay 's perfect game. Greg Dobbs had 12 extra-base hits while primarily serving as a pinch hitter. Cody Ransom went eight-for-42 in 22 games with two homers.
Thanks to mostly Halladay, Phillies pitchers led the NL in complete games (14) and shutouts (21) while hitting a league-low 26 batters. Anyway, the Phillies posted a 3.67 Earned Run Average in 1,456.1 innings with 59 saves, 1,402 hits, 640 runs (594 earned), 416 walks, and 1,183 strikeouts.
The starting rotation involved Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt (after the trade), Blanton, Kendrick, and Moyer. Manuel's bullpen included closer Brad Lidge, Chad Durbin, Contreras, rookie David Herndon, Ryan Madson, Baez, J.C. Romero, Nelson Figueroa, and Antonio Bastardo.
In case you're wondering, Halladay unanimously received the NL Cy Young Award. Halladay (21-10, 2.44 ERA) completed nine games, shutout four opponents (including the perfect game), scattered 231 hits, yielding 74 runs (68 earned), walked 30, and struckout 219 in 250.2 innings.
Hamels went 12-11 in 33 starts (208.2 innings) with 61 walks, 211 strikeouts, one complete game, 185 hits, and a 3.06 ERA. Oswalt was 7-1 in 13 games (12 starts) with a 1.74 ERA, 53 hits, 18 runs (16 earned), 21 walks, and 73 strikeouts in 82.2 innings. Kendrick finished 11-10 with a 4.73 ERA in 33 games (31 starts), Moyer (9-9, 4.84 ERA) landed on the disabled list for the first time in his career, and Blanton (9- 6, 28 starts, 4.82 ERA) fanned 134.
Lidge (1-1, 2.96 ERA) notched 27 of 32 saves in 50 games (45.2 innings) with 24 walks and 54 punch-outs. Madson (6-2, 2.55 ERA) permitted 16 runs (15 earned), 13 walks, and 42 hits in 53 innings (55 games) with 64 strikeouts, and 13 walks. Contreras went 6-4 in 56.2 frames (67 games) with 16 walks, 57 strikeouts, 21 earned runs, and 53 hits.
The Phillies posted the league's fourth-ranked defense (.986 fielding percentage) with 83 errors, 1,687 assists, 4,369 putouts, and 158 double plays. Victorino committed two errors in 373 chances with four double plays, 360 putouts, and 11 assists.
It was time for the Phillies to go into the postseason as favorites. Three other NL squads hoped to knock off the two-time defending NL champions off the league's throne.
2010 NLDS: Phillies vs. Reds
Usually, the top team in the league would face the Wild Card. However, since the Wild Card can't face a team from its division in the NLDS, Philadelphia played the third-seeded Reds.
In Game One, Halladay stepped on the mound for his postseason debut as he never reached the playoffs in Toronto from 1998 through 2010. Halladay didn't appear to have first-game jitters by no-hitting the Reds, 4-0, by allowing one Red to reach the entire game (on a walk). Brandon Phillips rolled a short dribbler in front on home plate, Ruiz went to his knees, and fired to first base to finish off the no-no.
Halladay became the second pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the postseason (the Yankees' Don Larsen pitched a perfect game in the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers) and the first pitcher to throw two no-hitters in a the same season since Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1973. Oh yeah, that meant Halladay became the first pitcher in MLB history to toss no-hitters in the regular season and playoffs the same year.
As for Game Two, Phillips had three hits, including a double and a homer against Oswalt, but he committed two of Cincinnati's four errors. The errors allowed the Phillies to tally five unearned runs to seize a 7–4 victory and a 2–0 series lead. Jay Bruce also hit a dinger for the Reds. Philadelphia overcame a 4-0 deficit with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, one in the sixth, three in the seventh, and one in the eighth.
Hamels took the mound in Game Three as the Phillies attempted to sweep the NLDS from the Reds at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, OH. Well, Hamels pitched all nine innings as the Phillies won, 2-0, and swept a playoff series for the first time in club history. Utley hit a solo homer off Cincinnati starter Johnny Cueto.
Another NLDS win, another trip to the NL Championship Series. Awaiting the Phillies in the 2010 NLCS were the San Francisco Giants. How could the Giants upset the Phillies with the top-notch pitching? Bruce Bochy was prepared to put his Giants to the task.
2010 NLCS: Phillies vs. Giants
Piece of cake, right? The Phillies were 22-10 in the regular season against NL West foes. San Francisco, the NL West winner, split six games with the Phillies (3-3).
Citizens Bank Park would be in a frenzy for the first two games. Game One matched Halladay and Giants ace Tim Lincecum. All of the game's offense mostly generated via the long ball as San Francisco's Cody Ross hitting two solo home runs against Halladay. Werth and Ruiz homers but San Francisco took Game One, 4-3, and out-hit the Phillies (9-7).
Oswalt got the nod in Game Two against Jonathan Sánchez; Oswalt permitted one run through eight innings and scored a run sliding home in the seventh after running through third base coach Sam Perlozzo's stop sign. The Phillies won, 6–1, with San Francisco's only run came on Ross' third solo home run in two games.
If anyone wanted to win the next three games to avoid a return to Philadelphia, it would be done in San Francisco. Philadelphia was shut out by the Giants, 3-0, in Game Three. Ross drove in another run to plate Edgar Rentería (no sayonaras for Ross this time). The Phillies were zero-for-five with runners in scoring position.
Blanton started Game Four as planned instead of Halladay pitching on short rest. The Phillies dropped their second consecutive contest, 6-5. Philadelphia posted a 4-2 lead in the top of the fifth when Victorino singled to centerfield to knock-in outfielder Ben Francisco, but the Giants came back to take a 5–4 lead in the sixth. After the Phillies tied the game at five apiece, Oswalt pitched the bottom of the ninth in relief, permitting a walk-off sacrifice fly to Juan Uribe.
Oh boy, if the Phillies couldn't win Game Five in San Francisco, they would be looking towards next year. Halladay took the mound, pulled a groin muscle during the second inning, and completed six innings of work as Philadelphia staved off elimination by defeating the Giants, 4–2. The ace hurler also sacrificed runners to second and third bases with zero out in the third with a bunt apparently rolling over home plate. Werth hit his second homer of the series as the Phillies plated three runs in the third and one in the ninth.
Back to Philadelphia for Game Six and, if necessary, a decisive seventh game. Oswalt got the nod for the start and allowed two runs. The Phillies grabbed a 2-0 lead in tge bottom of the first before the Giants tallied two in the third. In the top of the eighth with the game knotted at two apiece, Madson served a solo shot to Uribe for a 3-2 San Francisco lead.
Two runs were needed in the last of the ninth for a decisive seventh game. San Francisco closer Brian Wilson was still feared for his unique beard when he tried to earn the save. Howard batted with two outs and a 3-2 count when Wilson threw a pitch around breast-high but the umpire rung up Howard. The Giants won the game, 3-2, and clinched the NL pennant in six games.
Well, the Giants did end up defeating the Texas Rangers in the World Series. But Halladay was supposed to bask in glory, not Bochy's bunch.
ETC...
Halladay, Howard, and Utley represented the Phillies in th All-Star Game. Citizens Bank Park collected 3,777,322 tickets throughout the season. Pitcher Scott Mathieson and Brown were Paul Owens Award winners as the top minor leaguers in Philadelphia's farm system.
Werth wouldn't resign with the Phillies for 2011, signing a seven-year deal with the Nationals. Lidge would adjust to a set-up role as Madson worked his way as Philadelphia's closer the following season (2011).
If you listened to Phillies games on the radio, you would've heard the voices of Scott Franzke, Larry Andersen, and Jim Jackson. Calling the action on television were Tom McCarthy, Chris Wheeler, and Gary "Sarge" Matthews.