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.
#15 Werth’s Walkoff – September 19th
Should we be surprised?
The Phillies did it again.
How can you ever count this group out of a baseball game? Time and time again the Philadelphia Phillies prove that they are not done until the final out is recorded. They showed the faithful on hand at Citizens Bank Park yet again on a Sunday afternoon in September with a dramatic 7-6 come from behind victory over the Washington Nationals.
Jayson Werth's two run homer wins it for the Phillies
“I definitely don’t know what they’re thinking,” Jayson Werth said to fans who had left the ballpark before his 2-run walk off home run. “I do know it was a good win for us. It’s just another testament of this team, not giving up. You can’t count us out. It seemed like some people left there. I don’t know why you’re leaving.”
With a critical three-game series against the Atlanta Braves on the horizon, the Phillies were on the verge of having their six game winning streak snapped and dropping to just 2 games up in the NL East race. Trailing 6-3 entering the bottom of the 9th, Philadelphia was down to their final three outs and hopes of a victory looked grim.
Righty Drew Storen took the mound for Washington looking for the save. Placido Polanco led off the inning with a base hit to left field. Chase Utley followed with a double into the left field corner and suddenly the Phillies had 2nd and 3rd with no outs and slugger Ryan Howard at the plate representing the tying run.
“They had us kind of dead in the water,” said Howard. “Polly got a hit. Chase got a hit, we kind of got life from there.”
Howard lined the second pitch he saw into right center field and suddenly it was a one run game. Jayson Werth stepped to the plate looking to be the hero.
The Phillies won their 7th straight game heading into a pivotal series with Atlanta
After struggling the entire season with runners in scoring position, Werth’s at-bat played out like the climatic ending to a movie. It reminded many Phillies fans of Pat Burrell’s walk off home run off of Brian Wilson and the Giants back in April of 2008.
After falling behind 2-0, Storen came right after Werth. The Phillies right fielder just missed hitting a walk off home run on a 2-0 fastball. Later in the at-bat, Werth just missed again on a 3-2 slider.
Two pitches later, Werth didn’t miss.
He crushed a 409-foot home run over the wall in left center field and the Phillies came from behind once again to beat the Nationals 7-6.
“It was a super at-bat,” said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel.
“Werth put a good swing on it,” Storen said. “I threw a 3-2 slider that he fouled off. It was a good pitch. I was going to try to attack him with my fastball. It caught a little too much of the plate, especially his barrel.”
“I knew I hit it good,” added Werth. “It gets iffy out there with how the corner shoots back. If you probably could have asked me where it was going when I hit, it was probably right there.”
Joe Blanton allowed four runs over six innings while striking out eight and rookie Vance Worley picked up the first victory of his major league career.
With the victory the Phillies moved to 89-61. They were 41-15 in their last 56 games and had won 7 straight with Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt set to pitch against Atlanta.
“This is a big series” said Werth. “No doubt about it. We hold all the cards. We’re up three games. We play the Braves six times. We’ve got a chance right here, especially at home in front of our fans. Hopefully we’ll have some rally towels going tomorrow. It should be fun, but obviously we’ve got a chance to create some distance and get this thing to where we want it.”
H2O would essentially clinch the National League East three nights later but on this Sunday afternoon, the memory was the walk off.
After the game Jayson Werth would announce he was hiring super agent Scott Boras as his new representation. Months later he would sign a 7-year $126 million deal with the Washington Nationals. But on this afternoon, Werth helped slay the Nationals and moved the Phillies one step closer to their fourth consecutive division crown.
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