Phillies Top 25 Moments of 2010: #4 Mile High Explosion

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.

#4 Mile High Explosion – September 2nd

In the past when you thought of the Philadelphia Phillies, you envisioned of a prolific offense.  Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins.  The Phillies were a team that could put up a crooked number at any moment.  From top to bottom, the club had become one of the most feared lineups in Major League Baseball.

However the 2010 season was a struggle for Philadelphia.  Injuries and inconsistency led to the Phillies worst offensive output in several seasons. Rollins missed the majority of the season calf and thigh injuries. Chase Utley missed nearly two months with a broken thumb. Ryan Howard struggled down the stretch after suffering a badly sprained ankle in the beginning of August. Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco, and Carlos Ruiz all battled injuries throughout the summer months. The Phillies offense was simply in a season long funk.

That is until an early September night in Colorado when the offense exploded.

The Phillies offense exploded for 9 runs in the 7th

Let’s set the scene.  The Phillies and Rockies played a one-game series at Coors Field after their May 11th game was postponed.  The Phillies were in the midst of a brutal stretch of 24 games in 23 days and came into Colorado on the heels of a west coast trip to San Diego and Los Angeles, with a home game against the Milwaukee Brewers set for less than 24 hours later.

With playoff implications on the line, the tired teams took the field for what turned into a Coors Field classic.  The the two teams combined to score 23 runs on 35 hits, nine for extra bases, and used 14 pitchers.

“You expect this at this ballpark,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “The ball comes alive here.”

The Phillies offense remained dormant in the early innings of the game.  After 6 innings of play, Philadelphia trailed 7-3.  Joe Blanton allowed 6 runs on 10 hits over just 4 and 1/3 innings of work and the team seemed well on their way to a loss.

But in the top of the 7th, the offense came alive.  Placido Polanco led off the frame by doubling down the left field line.  Chase Utley followed by singling to right field and Ryan Howard crushed a home run to right to make it a 7-6 ball game.  Jayson Werth immediately followed with a back-to-back shot to left field and in the blink of an eye, the Phillies had tied the game.

“Crazier games have been played here,” Werth said. “We’ve been in those situations, those circumstances, many times. With what we’ve accomplished over the past few years and what we’ve done here, you can’t count us out. We’re resilient, we bounce back. We’ve proven it time and time again.”

“It’s two teams that have been known to slug, and both kind of came out today,” added Howard. “It was kind of back and forth. They got up on us early. One thing about this team is we kept plugging away, chipping, getting a run here, a run there, and just giving ourselves an opportunity to strike. And we struck.”

Chase Utley's grand slam was his first home run since June 18th

The Phillies struck early and often in the 7th.  An RBI single by pinch hitter Ben Francisco gave Philadelphia an 8-7 lead and set the scene for Chase Utley to step to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the inning.  The Phillies second baseman blasted a 3-1 pitch over the fence in right field for a grand slam home run to cap off an amazing inning.

9 runs on 9 hits including home runs by each of the Phillies three main power threats.  Utley tied a career high with 6 RBIs, including 5 in the 7th inning.  His grand slam was his first home run since June 18th.

“I imagine there are a lot of guys that have driven in a lot of runs here,” Utley said. “There’s a lot of room for hits. The ball carries extremely well here. You put those two together, you’re going to have some success.”

“The fact that we had a big inning and we started to hit the ball well, I think that’s going to help us as far as really getting our offense going,” Charlie Manuel said. “We’ve struggled, but at the same time, we haven’t had our team on the field. The last four or five or six days, we’ve basically put the same team out there. That is our lineup. It feels good to see them start hitting and scoring some runs.”

Although the Phillies turned a 4 run deficit into a 5 run lead, the game was yet to be decided.  With their playoff hopes on the line, the Rockies battled back plating 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th off of Chad Durbin.  Colorado threatened again in the bottom of the 8th loading the bases off of JC Romero, but Jose Contreras was able to work his way out of the jam.

Brad Lidge shuts the door for his 19th save of the 2010 season

Clinging to a 12-10 lead in the bottom of the 9th, closer Brad Lidge allowed an unearned run to score after a Ryan Howard error and the Rockies got the tying run into scoring position.  Fortunately Lidge got Ryan Spilborghs to ground out to 3rd to end the ball game and the Phillies somehow escaped with a wild 12-11 victory.

“It felt like it had extreme, urgent importance because of how the game was played,” said Lidge, who earned his 19th save with a nail-biter of a ninth. “It was a lot of fun to watch our guys come back and to continue to hit against a team that also decided to continue to hit. In the end, we were the last ones standing. It shows the character of our guys.”

“That’s Colorado Springs baseball right there,” Manuel added. “It was a heck of a game. One thing about playing out here, it’s hard to stop momentum in a game. When a team starts getting hits, they can put some runs up on you. Tonight brought back memories of my old Coast days. It was good. Especially when you win.”

With the victory, the Phillies completed a successful 6-1 west coast road trip and returned to Philadelphia with some momentum heading into the stretch run.  The team would win 18 of its remaining 25 games to seal their fourth straight divisional title.  But the team’s hot September began on a chilly September night in Colorado where after a season long slump, the offense finally came to life.