Yep, Chase Utley is back in town. Maeda (who passed Clayton Kershaw for the team lead with his 12th win) went six innings and allowed only three hits – although two of them were home runs (solo homers by Cameron Rupp and Cesar Hernandez).
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The Dodgers now lead the National League West by 1½ games, their largest lead in the division since April 26. But on this night, pennant races and practical concerns took a backseat to a heartfelt reunion. “That’s pretty rare. You don’t see a visiting player get a curtain call”. But when they fall for an athlete, they fall hard. “The standing ovation before my first at-bat is something I’ll never forget”. It was truly special.
Tuesday represented a great moment for Phillies fans to show what Utley has meant to them and the franchise. You couldn’t even write what happened next, in fact I am not going to. On Tuesday, it did it perfectly, from Utley’s personal walk-up song playing, the fans reacting and the different Phanavision snippets that were spread throughout the evening. And not many people have belonged to the city of Philadelphia like Chase Utley. And wouldn’t you know it has been since 2011 since his last multi-home run game in that stadium.
The loudest ovation for the 37-year-old, who spend 13 of his first 14 Major League Baseball seasons in Philadelphia, came when he stepped into the batter’s box for his first at-bat.
What leaves fans adoring him long after he left, more than the success he enjoyed with the teams he played on, is the way he played the game.
Remember that final pitch of Roy Halladay’s playoff no-hitter – in his first postseason game?
At one point, the normally stoic Utley pounded his fist on his heart.
“I didn’t really have an opportunity to say goodbye (last season)”, Utley said. He has spent time with multiple teams, but what he was able to do tonight is the exact reason the Dodgers picked him up from the Blue Jays. “To me, that’s a true complement”.
Adrian Gonzalez homered twice, Justin Turner parked one of his own, a Phillies starter failed to pitch six innings once again and all of that combined to form an expected result as the Dodgers toppled the Phillies, 7-2.
If the Dodgers expect to maintain first place “The Man” as Utley was known in Philadelphia will need to continue to be a presence on the field and in the locker room.
Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer Tuesday, his 18th of the season and the 375th of his career. It took him five plate appearances as a Dodger to achieve the feat. But Turner led off the top of the fourth with a single, and Josh Reddick walked ahead of Gonzalez’s three-run bomb, on a 3-1 fastball from Thompson.It was Gonzalez’s 11th homer of the season and extended his hitting streak to 10 games.Turner added his two-run shot in the fifth, after a single by Corey Seager, to increase the Los Angeles lead to 5-1. “But you try to chalk it up to another baseball game”.
Suzuki has had a hit at Cinergy Field, the Reds’ old home, but the triple was his first hit at the Reds’ second home field that opened in 2003. The rookie first baseman is averaging one homer for every 14.13 at-bats this season, which is the ninth-highest rate among all players with at least 200 at-bats.
Roberts is also a sucker for leadership skills.
“There are a lot of things that run through your mind”, Utley said when he was asked about his walk into the park Tuesday.
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The general public didn’t see the hours of video work behind the scenes, the nearly endless swings in pregame batting practice sessions or the exercises needed in recent years just to get the knees ready to play.
