"His stride had been a little too quick," Manuel said after Utley doubled, homered, and drove in four runs, matching his RBI total in the 16 games since he rejoined the club following a rigorous rehabilitation process to strengthen his knee. "Especially on his front side against slow stuff, secondary stuff. He's starting to do what I call slow feet and quick hands, like when he drove the ball his first time up. That was a good sign."
For the first time since his season began May 23, after he missed spring training and played a few games with single-A Clearwater, the complete Chase Utley was on display.
It turned out Utley's two-run double was all Cliff Lee would need as the lefthander allowed only four hits and one run over eight innings for his sixth win. Utley also advanced Shane Victorino to third by grounding the ball to the right side of the infield in the seventh, and Victorino scored on Ryan Howard's single to make it 4-1. His homer in the eighth was drilled. For now, at least, it alleviated some concern that his power has been diminished by his knee condition.
In case you haven't noticed, the Phillies have been starving for runs. They had scored three or fewer runs in eight of the 10 games they'd played prior to Saturday, and six of them were losses. They are 26-3 when they score four or more runs. How badly do they need production from Utley? Hello!
