Top ten moments of the Philadelphia Phillies 2017 season
By John Town
No. 9: Aaron Altherr hits grand slam off Clayton Kershaw
The first time the Phillies played the Dodgers this year, they were swept in a three-game series in Los Angeles at the end of April. The next time the two teams played each other, the season was almost over. Between April and mid-September, the Phillies changed drastically. That showed with Philadelphia taking three of four games from Los Angeles between Sep. 18 and 21.
The first of those wins came against Clayton Kershaw, the arguable favorite for the NL Cy Young. Heading into his start against the Phillies, Kershaw had a 2.12 ERA in 24 starts.
Kershaw had kept Philadelphia off the board through five innings. With two outs and runners on first and second, Rhys Hoskins worked back from a 1-2 count to walk on seven pitches to load the bases. Aaron Altherr stepped up to the plate after Hoskins and utterly clobbered a slider from Kershaw, hitting it 418 feet with an exit velocity of 107.6 miles per hour according to Statcast.
The grand slam completely shifted the game to Philadelphia’s favor as they went on to win the game, 4-3.