As the year comes to a close it’s time to look back at some of the top moments from the Philadelphia Phillies 2010 season. While the team came short of their ultimate goal of winning a World Series championship, there were still several great memories from the past year. It’s time to look back on the top moments of 2010 leading up to the number one memory which will be unveiled on New Years Eve.
#24: Kendrick vs. Jimenez – July 24th
Saturday afternoon. National television. The recently demoted Kyle Kendrick set to face off against Cy Young favorite Ubaldo Jimenez. Everything about this matchup pointed to a Colorado Rockies victory. But that is why they play the games.
Kyle Kendrick was brilliant in his return from the minor leagues
After a poor performance 5 days earlier in St. Louis, the Phillies had optioned Kendrick to AAA Lehigh Valley to work out his issues in the minor leagues. However after Jamie Moyer injured his pitching elbow just two days later, Kendrick was recalled to the big club before even making a minor league start.
“Obviously they wanted something, something happened, I can’t explain it,” said Kendrick after picking up his 6th victory of the season. “It’s out of my control really, it’s out of my hands. I landed and thought I was going to start Saturday for Lehigh Valley.”
“I definitely tried to use it as positively and show some people wrong I guess,” Kendrick added. “Show that I belong here. That’s what I tried to do. I wanted to go out there and do my job. I know myself I belong here. I gotta keep having outings like that.”
Kendrick did his best to show he belonged allowing just 1 run on 6 hits over 7 strong innings of work. It was the 8th time during the season that Kendrick had gone at least 6 innings and allowed 2 runs or less. Jose Contreras allowed a run in the 8th and rookie Vance Worley made his MLB debut striking out 2 batters to close out the victory and move the Phillies to 51-46 on the season.
“I asked him, was he [ticked] off?” manager Charlie Manuel said. “He said, ‘Yeah a little bit.’ I said, ‘That’s good then.’ I said that not being smart, I just wanted to see how he’d react to going down.”
“He has to pitch ahead. Kendrick has to be a pitcher,” added Manuel. “His command has to be there, and he has to use all of his pitches. He’s definitely got to have command, that’s how he’s going to get by.”
Ubaldo Jimenez struggled in his worst outing of the season
While Kendrick was brilliant with his command Saturday afternoon, the Phillies offense also had a big day. Ubaldo Jimenez came into the game with a 15-1 record on the season but he had struggled his last few times out. The Rockies righty battled with his command walking 6 batters in 2+ innings of work before being tagged with 6 runs in the 3rd. It was Jimenez’s shortest outing of the season as the crowd at Citizens Bank Park cheered mightily as he departed the mound before recording an out in the 3rd inning.
“I couldn’t locate my fastball in any spot,” Jimenez said. “After that first inning, I lost the strike zone. I beat myself and didn’t give my team a chance to win.”
Jimenez walked the bases loaded to start the bottom of the 3rd before Ryan Howard hit a bases clearing triple into the right field corner. Howard later scored on a wild pitch and Jimmy Rollins added a 2-run triple to close Jimenez’s line.
“I think it definitely was a really good collective effort,” said Raul Ibanez after adding his 8th homer of the season in the 6th inning. “He’s a great pitcher and he’s having a great year. We battled and worked some good at-bats and were able to string them together in the same inning, which is big.”
The victory was the 3rd in a row for the Phillies as they were in the middle of an 8-game winning streak after firing hitting coach Milt Thompson. But on one July afternoon, the story was Kyle Kendrick’s redemption and the Phillies offense taking out one of the best pitchers in baseball.
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