As the 2011 season approaches, 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. Here is a look back on the top 25 moments of 2010 Philadelphia Phillies season.
#3 The Turning Point – July 9th
There are certain points during a Major League Baseball season that define a team. For the 2010 Philadelphia Phillies, a series against the Cincinnati Reds at Citizen’s Bank Park was a pivotal moment for the team’s ultimate success.
Philadelphia limped into the 4-game set against the NL Central leading Reds with a 43-40 record on the season. The team’s offense had been lifeless for nearly two months and Charlie Manuel’s squad looked destined to head into the All Star break hovering around the .500 mark.
But the Phillies were able to win game one of the series in dramatic fashion. After closer Brad Lidge blew a save in the 9th, backup catcher Brian Schneider hit a walk-off home run to right field to give the Phillies a 4-3 victory in 12 innings.
Ryan Howard's walk-off home run capped an improbable comeback for the Phillies
Philadelphia looked to carry the momentum from their Thursday night victory into game two of the series as Joe Blanton took the hill to face off against rookie righty Mike Leake. Blanton struggled once again allowing 6 runs, including 5 earned, on 12 hits in just 5 and 1/3 innings of work.
“There were runners on all day,” said Blanton, whose ERA rose to 6.41 on the season. “I was trying to battle, and that’s a very hard lineup to battle against.”
“It was a tough game for him,” added Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. “There was sloppy play, plus it seemed like they were running a lot, and every time they ran, somebody hit the ball and it was in the hole or they hit it hard in the gap or something. It was just one of those nights.”
While Cincinnati’s lineup feasted on Blanton, the Phillies offense was lifeless for 8 innings against Leake. Until the 9th, Philadelphia managed just five hits and had only two base runners in scoring position.
Trailing by a score of 7-1, the Phillies looked well on their way to a lackluster loss as they began the 9th against Leake. With most of the sold out crowd of 45,029 still on hand at Citizen’s Bank Park due to fireworks night, Shane Victorino led off the inning with a double to right field and the wheels were in motion for an improbable comeback.
Two batters later, Ryan Howard singled to left field to score Victorino and cut the deficit to 5 runs. Jayson Werth followed with a base hit to left and 3rd baseman Greg Dobbs crushed a 3-run home run off of the top of the foul pole in right field to make it a 7-5 ball game. In the blink of an eye, Leake went from being two outs away from his first career complete game victory to being chased from the mound after 101 pitches.
The Phillies celebrated their second straight extra inning walk-off win
“It’s a tough one to swallow, up by six,” Leake said. “There should be no reason not to close the game.”
Cincinnati turned to closer Francisco Cordero to try and hold on to the victory. After getting Brian Schneider to fly out to center field for the second out of the inning, Cordero walked pinch hitter Ben Francisco to bring the tying run to the plate.
“It’s a small ballpark,” Cordero said. “You don’t bring the tying run to home plate. You just have to get that guy.”
Charlie Manuel turned to his bench once again bringing veteran minor leaguer Cody Ransom to the plate. The 34-year old utility player was a career .227 hitter with just 7 home runs in his 8 year major league career. But his eighth career home run turned out to be a major turning point for the Phillies season. Ransom drove an 0-1 fastball from Cordero deep to left field for a 2-run home run and the Phillies miraculously tied the game 7-7.
“We finally got to Leake in the ninth,” Ransom said. “From there, we got some momentum and kept it going. With Cordero, he throws hard, so you just try to put the barrel on it and hopefully something good will happen. It did.”
The unthinkable rally brought 10 batters to the plate as the Phillies scored 6 runs on 5 hits and got two clutch home runs from the unlikeliest of sources, Greg Dobbs and Cody Ransom. Ryan Madson sat down the heart of the Reds order with a 1-2-3 10th inning and the Phillies looked to steal the victory heading to the bottom of the 10th.
The comeback victory was the turning point for the 2010 Phillies
Dusty Baker turned to All Star reliever Arthur Rhodes and Raul Ibanez greeted the lefty by doubling down the right field line to lead off the inning. The Phillies had the winning run in scoring position for slugger Ryan Howard and the Big Piece wasted little time. Howard took the 2-1 pitch from Rhodes to the opposite field for a walk-off home run.
“I was just trying to poke something out to left field and let him run,” Howard said. “I was hoping it’d get at least to the wall. I hit it pretty solid. I guess we scored them all at once. I don’t know how to explain it. This is huge.”
Just like that an offense that had been dormant for months exploded for 8 runs in 2 innings and the Phillies completed a miraculous comeback defeating the Reds by a final score of 9-7.
“The last two nights, the wins that we’ve had are really good, outstanding,” Manuel said. “That puts your team in a good frame of mind.”
“It was a lot of fun,” added Ransom. “Anytime you can be trailing all game like that and then come back and win it in the ninth, it’s definitely some momentum.”
The victory provided a springboard for the Phillies as they went into the All Star Break. The team went on to win their third straight extra inning affair the very next night as Jimmy Rollins hit a walk off home run after the team was nearly no-hit by rookie Travis Wood for a 1-0 victory. Philadelphia completed the 4-game sweep of the Reds behind a brilliant Sunday afternoon effort from Cole Hamels in yet another 1-0 win.
The 4-game sweep of Cincinnati gave the Phillies major momentum that they carried over into the second half of the season. The team went 50-25 after the All Star Break and cruised to their fourth straight divisional title. Looking back on the 2010 season, the Philadelphia Phillies season turned around during that 4-game sweep of Cincinnati as the comeback Phils finally came to play.
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