page_title: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies season
section_title: September and October
hierarchical_section_title: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies season / Regular season / September and October
caption_attribution_description: English: Chase Utley, Phillies Photo Day 2008
context_page_description: The Philadelphia Phillies' 2010 season was the 128th season in the history of the franchise. As the two-time defending National League champion—having appeared in the 2008 and 2009 World Series—the Phillies won their fourth consecutive National League East championship, and also finished with the best record in baseball. After sweeping the Cincinnati Reds in the NLDS, however, the team lost to the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS.
context_section_description: The Phillies opened the season's final full month with victories on four consecutive days. On September 1, they defeated the Dodgers, 5–1, to complete their last series of the year against a National League West team; Oswalt no-hit Los Angeles through ​5 ²⁄₃ innings and was supported by a career-high three doubles from Utley. After a one-game stop in Colorado to make up the rainout from May 11—Philadelphia won, 12–11—the Phillies returned home to play their final series against the National League Central, facing the Brewers. Hamels stretched his scoreless streak to 18 consecutive innings in a 1–0 victory, and Philadelphia took a second straight one-run victory on September 4 in a 5–4 win. However, they could not complete the sweep, as Milwaukee won the series' final game, 6–2. The next series against Florida opened with a doubleheader, which the teams split; the Marlins won the day game, 7–1, behind six innings of one-hit ball from rookie Adalberto Méndez, while the Phillies took the nightcap, 7–4. The Phillies took the remaining games of the series as well, winning 8–7 on September 7 and 10–6 the following day, to move into first place in the National League East for the first time since May. Against the rival Mets, Halladay batted in two runs to put the Phillies ahead in the series opener; in doing so, he won his 18th game of the season. New York evened the series in a 4–3 contest on September 11, but Philadelphia bounced back to take their fifth straight series with a 3–0 victory; Oswalt pitched a complete-game shutout, the eighth of his career.
  Oswalt's shutout proved to be a harbinger, as it was the first victory in the Phillies' season-long 11-game winning streak. Their next series against Florida resulted in a sweep, the first of three consecutive series; Philadelphia defeated the Marlins, 11–4, in the series opener behind home runs from Werth, Utley, Ruiz, and Greg Dobbs. A 2–1 victory in the second contest—in which Hamels struck out 13 Marlins—was Philadelphia's closest win, which was followed by a 10–5 victory on September 16 to close out the series. Three consecutive wins over Washington completed the next series: a 9–1 victory on September 17, highlighted by a six-run first inning; a 5–2 win the following night in which Howard extended his streak of 30 home run and 100 RBI seasons to five; and the sweep completed by a 7–6 contest in which Werth hit a walk-off two-run home run. The next series came against Atlanta, who entered three games behind Philadelphia in the division standings at the start of play on September 20. However, the Phillies swept the Braves with three consecutive victories, beginning with a 3–1 win in which Hamels threw eight innings, calling the game "a chess match" and crediting his improved cut fastball and curveball. The second game of the series, which Philadelphia won 5–3, was Halladay's 20th victory of the season; he became the first Phillie pitcher to reach the mark since Steve Carlton in 1982, and the first right-hander to do so since Roberts in 1955. Werth scored on an Ibáñez double in the bottom of the eighth inning of the final contest to score the game's only run; the Phillies won, 1–0, after Oswalt and the Braves' Tommy Hanson pitched to a stalemate.
  Philadelphia's 11th victory in a row came against the Mets on September 24—they won, 3–2—but they dropped the next two games to New York, 5–2 and 7–3, to notch their first series loss in September. With their magic number at one, Philadelphia visited Washington with Halladay on the mound; they clinched their fourth consecutive NL East title behind the pitcher's 8–0 shutout victory. The Phillies became the third National League team in history to play in the postseason in four consecutive seasons, joining the Braves (1991–2005, excluding 1994) and the New York Giants (1921–1924). In the series' second contest, the Phillies lost, 2–1, while resting several regulars to prepare for the National League Division Series. They salvaged the series victory, however, with a 7–1 win on September 29; three backup players, including Sweeney, Fr
caption: Chase Utley hit a career-high three doubles during the Phillies' first September game.
exif: {}