"I guess that's pretty good company," he said.
Yeah, I guess.
Utley has not rested between games for this long since, well, the last Game 1 of the World Series. Six days passed between games this time. Six days between games the year before. Remember? Utley slammed a two-run home run over the rightfield wall in his first at-bat of the 2008 World Series. Cole Hamels pitched almost as well as Cliff Lee did last night, and the Phillies had stolen home-field advantage with a 3-2 victory.
They won, 6-1, last night. Lee's mastery of the Yankees was the story of this Game 1. But Utley's two knocks against Sabathia, who was 3-0 with a 1.19 earned run average this postseason, was equally foreboding.
"I said it yesterday," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "He's probably going to have a good series."
That would be huge. Because the Yankees are full of lefthanded pitchers. Because Sabathia probably will start three games if this World Series goes the distance. The Phillies had three extra-base hits before Sabathia exited after the seventh. Ryan Howard's first-inning double was the other one.
And because Utley's power, if the grind doesn't absorb it, is a weapon they really didn't have in the first two rounds.
"Anytime you can hit a home run or get a base hit, hit the ball hard, it gives you confidence for your next at-bat and the rest of your at-bats," Utley said. "So that's a good thing."
I guess.
Utley hit a two-run home run in Game 1 of last year's National League Championship Series too. He had a two-run double against Milwaukee in Game 1 of the NL Division Series as well. In three Game 1s of 2008, the Phillies second baseman drove in six of their nine runs.
