April The Phillies began their 2009 season in front of a sold-out crowd of 44,532 at Citizens Bank Park on April 5, playing against the
Atlanta Braves. The Phillies, originally scheduled to play in the afternoon of April 6, earned the distinction of playing the opening game of the entire
2009 Major League Baseball (MLB) season after winning the 2008 World Series. They lost the opener 4–1 to the division-rival Braves, whose new
ace,
Derek Lowe, pitched eight shutout innings. The Phillies lost the next game, and were in danger of losing the following night and dropping to 0–3 before scoring eight runs in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 12–11 comeback win. The Phillies lost their first game in Denver, but came from behind again in their next two games to take the second series from the
Colorado Rockies. The Phillies defeated the
Washington Nationals in the opener of their third series, just hours after the death of
Hall of Fame broadcaster
Harry Kalas, but lost the third scheduled game of the series after the second was cancelled due to poor weather. In their series against the
San Diego Padres, the Phillies dropped the first two games as well; during the second game, closer
Brad Lidge blew his first save with Philadelphia, breaking his streak of 47 consecutive saves extending back to 2007. The Phillies won the Sunday afternoon matinee against the Padres, 5–4, on a
walk-off home run by Ibáñez after trailing the entire game. The Phillies' offense benefited from rest due to the postponement of the final game of the Padres' series, as they defeated the
Milwaukee Brewers in the opener of their mid-week series, 11–4. The next two games did not go as smoothly, as the Phillies were shut out through eight innings in the second game and nearly no-hit by Brewers starter
Dave Bush in the third game. Phillies starter
Cole Hamels was hit by a line drive in the fourth inning and exited the game; before departing, he had retired nine of the ten batters he faced. Hitting the
road for a series against the division-leading
Florida Marlins, the Phillies were shut out through eight innings in the first game of the series before scoring seven runs in the top of the ninth against
power-throwing closer Matt Lindstrom, winning the game, 7–3 on
Shane Victorino's first career regular season
grand slam. The following night's game offered another come-from-behind win, as they trailed in the ninth again to win in
extra innings, 6–4, and the 13–2 victory on April 26 capped the team's first series sweep. Hosting Washington for their second series against the Nationals, the Phillies fell behind in the seventh inning before a grand slam by Ibáñez capped their 13–11 victory; combined with
Ryan Howard's game-tying grand slam in the fifth inning, this was only the fourth time in Phillies history that teammates hit grand slams in the same game. The Phillies split the remaining two games of the series with Washington, finishing with an April record of 11–9, their second consecutive winning April.
May The Phillies opened May against the
division-rival New York Mets, losing the opening game of the month, 7–4. Back-to-back walks in the tenth inning of the Saturday afternoon game gave the Phillies their first win of the season over the Mets. After a rainout, the Phillies opened their first series in St. Louis with the
Cardinals. They won the first game of the series on Howard's second grand slam in as many weeks after a
pitchers' duel between starters
Kyle Lohse and
Joe Blanton and completed the two-game series sweep with a 10–7 victory on May 5, capped by a
Jayson Werth three-run home run and a 4-for-5 performance from Victorino. The Phillies' brief stop in New York was marred by a two-game series sweep; Phillies hitters were shut down by Mets starters
Johan Santana and
Mike Pelfrey, and
closer Francisco Rodríguez recorded saves in both games of the series. On May 12, Werth stole four bases, including home plate, tying a Phillies record and leading to a 5–3 win over the
Los Angeles Dodgers; however, the series result was the same as the previous one, as the Phillies dropped two games in the set to Los Angeles. After meeting the President, the Phillies opened the series with a second consecutive extra-inning game, defeating the Nationals in 12 innings. Because pitcher
J. A. Happ had to enter Friday night's game in relief, the Phillies called up right-handed starting pitcher
Andrew Carpenter from
Reading to start the second game of Saturday's
doubleheader (a make-up of the postponement from April 15). Carpenter earned his first major league win in the rain-shortened second game after Myers earned the win in the afternoon game. Though Sunday's starter Park only pitched 1 innings, the Phillies
swept the series with the Nationals with an 8–6 come-from-behind win, with new call-up
Sergio Escalona earning his first major league win. This marked the first time since the
2007 season that rookies had won back-to-back starts for the Phillies (Hamels and
Kyle Kendrick). The Phillies took two of three games in each of their next two series with the
Cincinnati Reds and the
New York Yankees to finish their road trip with an 8–2 record. Though they lost two games against Florida, the final series of the month against Washington resulted in a second straight series sweep, as the Phillies defeated the Nationals in three consecutive games to finish the month with a 17–11 record; With strong offensive performances in May, Howard and Ibáñez became the first pair of Phillies to hit 10 home runs in the same month.
June The month of June saw the continuation of the Phillies' hot streak; from May 15 to June 4, the team compiled a 16–4 record, culminating with a three-game sweep of the Padres on the Phillies' first trip to the West Coast. In that series, rookie
Antonio Bastardo made his major league debut, striking out five batters and allowing one earned run in six innings of work to earn his first career victory. Traveling north to Los Angeles for a rematch of the
previous year's playoff series, the Phillies managed a split despite the bullpen's struggles. Lidge blew two saves in consecutive nights, taking the loss in the first game and allowing the game-tying home run in the other. The series was bookended by the team's first
shutout of the season, a
complete game by Hamels, and a second consecutive strong performance from Bastardo, who pitched five innings and allowed only two runs in a game that ended with a final score of 7–2. The final stop on the road trip was
Citi Field, where the Phillies faced off against the Mets. All three games were close, with two one-run wins in the series and two extra-inning victories for the Phillies, won by home runs from Utley and Ibáñez on June 10 and 11. The team's strong stretch did not continue, however, as the Phillies entered the second period of interleague play with five consecutive series against the
American League East. While they managed a single win against the
Boston Red Sox, it was followed by a six-game losing streak wherein the Phillies were swept by the
Toronto Blue Jays and the
Baltimore Orioles; but were defeated in the last two games of the series and lost a fourth straight game to Toronto on June 26. However, the Phillies were able to exact a modicum of revenge for both their
1993 World Series defeat and the first series sweep by the Jays by winning the last two games. Happ played the role of
stopper by pitching his first career complete-game shutout, and Moyer followed by earning his 252nd victory in the following game. To close the month, the Phillies lost the opener of their next series with the Braves to finish the month with a 10–16 record. Though closer Lidge suffered a tough loss on July 7, sacrificing a run in the ninth inning to earn his fourth of the season, the Phillies bounced back with a dramatic ninth-inning win the following night. Victorino hit a walk-off single to drive in
Pedro Feliz and solidify his victory in the All-Star Final Vote, which was announced the next day. Werth was named to replace the New York Mets'
Carlos Beltrán on the All-Star roster due to injury; Victorino replaced Beltrán as the starter in center field. After the All-Star break—during which the
American League (AL) defeated the NL, 4–3—Moyer,
Ryan Madson, and
J. C. Romero combined for a one-hit, complete-game shutout of the Marlins in the first game back, extending the Phillies'
winning streak to six games, Happ raised his record to 7–0 on the season with another seven-inning shutout performance. The streak continued as the Phillies opened a series at home against the
Chicago Cubs;
Chad Durbin earned his first save in 11 months by pitching three scoreless innings of relief. Werth's three-run home run in the 13th inning the next night gave the Phillies a walk-off win for their tenth consecutive, but Chicago ended the season-high streak with a 10–5 defeat on July 22. Lee and Francisco joined the Phillies in San Francisco after the Phillies' series victory over the
Arizona Diamondbacks, and both started the final game in July. Lee pitched a complete-game four-hitter on July 31, allowing one run over nine innings of work. The Phillies finished July with a 20–7 record,
August The Phillies opened the month of August with three straight losses, but the stopper's role again fell to the rookie Happ, who pitched his second shutout of the season—and the second of his career—against the Rockies on August 5. He earned the team's 60th win of the season while allowing four hits and striking out ten batters for the first time in his career. In accordance with his 8–2 record and strong performances, Amaro announced that Happ would remain in the Phillies' starting rotation despite the team's acquisitions of Lee and
Pedro Martínez; rumors regarding Happ's status had been rampant since Martínez' signing and during the trade season when Happ was rumored to be the centerpiece of a potential trade for the Blue Jays'
Roy Halladay. New pitcher Lee stifled the Rockies the following day to win the series for the Phillies with a second consecutive strong performance, allowing one run over seven innings and allowing only six hits. In the following series with Florida, however, the Phillies struggled. The Marlins swept all three games of the series, Moyer pitched against the Marlins in that game, a team against which he had prior success in his career (13–3, 2.87 ERA in 100 innings pitched), and allowed two earned runs on eleven
singles through five innings; Francisco hit his second Phillies home run against the Cubs on August 11; it came in the 12th inning and scored the game-winning run for the Phillies. It became the first win of a three-game series sweep, The Phillies took two of three games from the Braves in their next series, and eight innings of three-run baseball from Blanton. Martínez faced off against his former club on August 23, with the series tied 1–1. Mets starter
Óliver Pérez allowed six runs in the first inning and was pulled in the middle of Martínez' first at-bat, down in the count 3–0.
Ángel Pagán led off the Mets' first with an
inside-the-park home run after the ball became lodged underneath the outfield wall. Martínez pitched six innings, allowing four runs, but the score was 9–6 by the end of the eighth inning. Lidge allowed another run to score and had runners on first and second, thanks in part to a
booted base hit and an
error by
Eric Bruntlett. The Mets had no outs and
Jeff Francoeur was at the plate representing the
go-ahead run. Francoeur hit a
line drive over the second base bag, where Bruntlett caught it, stepped on second base, and tagged
Daniel Murphy coming from first, completing the 15th
unassisted triple play in baseball's modern era and the second in
Phillies history (
Mickey Morandini) in a game called "the league's quirkiest of the season". The Phillies closed the series with a 6–2 win behind Lee's eighth straight victory (seven innings pitched, no earned runs). With a win on August 26, the Phillies claimed victory in the year's series over the Pirates; Howard hit a game-winning three-run shot for the Phillies in the top of the tenth on August 26 after the Pirates tied it in the ninth on a
Brandon Moss home run.
Garrett Jones set a Pirates rookie record with his 15th home run off of Happ in the eighth inning of the series finale. The Phillies closed the month by taking two of three games from the Braves. For his 11-home-run performance in August, Howard won the NL
Player of the Month award.
September The Phillies opened the month by taking two of a three-game series against the Giants, besting
Jonathan Sánchez, who threw a no-hitter earlier in the 2009 season, and
Tim Lincecum, who won the 2008 NL Cy Young Award. This was followed by a trip to Texas for a four-game series against the
Houston Astros; the Phillies were unable to muster much offense during the series and were swept. The Phillies offense backed Lee to his sixth win the following night, with Madson earning his second consecutive save after assuming the
de facto closer's role from Lidge. However, the Phillies could not overcome a pair of three-run home runs by
Adam Dunn and
Ian Desmond to secure the sweep in the last game of the series, despite Stairs' grand slam; it was their third loss of the season to Washington in fifteen games. The Mets came to Philadelphia for their last series of the season, which began on September 11. The Phillies won game one, 4–2, but the Mets came from behind in the second game of the series, scoring five runs in the final two innings to win 10–9. Making up a postponed game from earlier in the season, the Phillies won the first game of a
day-night doubleheader behind
Kyle Kendrick's first major league victory in 13 months. Eight shutout innings from Martínez in the
nightcap gave the Phillies a 1–0 win, a 3–1 win in the 4-game set, and a 12–6 win in the season series. Martínez' eight innings also began a streak of 26 consecutive scoreless innings by Phillies pitchers: Madson followed with a scoreless ninth for his eighth save of the season; Cliff Lee pitched a complete-game shutout against the Nationals the following night; and Blanton, Park, and Madson combined for eight scoreless innings against Washington on September 16 until
Tyler Walker allowed a run in the top of the ninth inning, an RBI single by
Willie Harris which scored
Justin Maxwell. Hamels closed out the series with a strong performance, perfect through his first five innings and finishing with one run allowed in eight; with their 15th win over the Nationals, the Phillies matched their best season record against the franchise, set against the
1976 Montreal Expos. The Phillies continued to Atlanta, where they took two of three from the Braves, with Kendrick's second win and Lidge's 30th save in the first game of the series. Martínez was outdueled by
Javier Vázquez in the second game of the series, but the Phillies avoided a loss by defeating the Braves, 4–2, on September 20. A doubleheader followed against the Marlins; the Phillies won game one, while the Marlins won game two. In the
rubber game, Lidge blew his 11th save after a rain delay to give the Marlins a series victory, keeping the team's
number to clinch the division at five. The Phillies and the Brewers split the next series at two games each, with Philadelphia winning the first and last game of the series. The Phillies returned to Citizens Bank Park for their final homestand to close out the season, opening with a fifth consecutive loss to the Astros. However, the Phillies broke the streak with a 7–4 win on September 29, thanks to a Feliz grand slam. The following night, the Phillies clinched their third consecutive division title with a 10–3 win over Houston, guaranteeing a split in the series and a playoff berth, and tying the franchise record for consecutive division titles set by
Danny Ozark's teams from 1976 to 1978. After the clinching game, the Phillies rested most of their regular starters, six of whom had started over 150 games during the season; they lost four straight games while the regulars regained their strength, but won the final game of the season in extra innings as
Paul Hoover hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning. The Phillies finished with a record of 93–69, which was their best record since winning 97 games during the
1993 season.
Standings Record vs. opponents Game log Postseason game log Roster All players who made an appearance for the Phillies during 2009 are included. ==Postseason==