Chase Utley

CLEARWATER, Fla. - It may not look that way in the morning box score, but Chase Utley considered Tuesday night's exercise at Bright House Field another step in the right direction on his rickety knees. Playing in his first minor-league rehab game for the single-A Clearwater Threshers, Utley went hitless in five at-bats with three strikeouts and a foul-out against the Tampa Yankees. He was the designated hitter in Clearwater's 4-3, 10-inning loss, and when he swung and missed at an off-speed pitch from Tampa's Rigoberto Arrebato in the bottom of the ninth inning for his third straight strikeout, the sparse crowd taking advantage of dollar-dog-and-beer night booed the Philadelphia icon.

In a Phillies promotion, many fans dressed in colorful 1970s clothes and outlandish wigs last night. Two people flashed peace signs and carried a sign that read "Impeach Nixon. " Perhaps inspired by the leisure-suit atmosphere - and by the '70s music that blared throughout Citizens Bank Park between innings - Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard got into the spirit of the event. He came disguised as Willie Stargell. Howard smashed a two-run, fourth-inning homer to left-center off Greg Maddux - who has been around so long he almost pitched in the '70s - to trigger an 8-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers before an animated crowd of 42,620.

It seems like last week never happened. Chase Utley's memorable return from the disabled list on Monday. Aaron Rowand's poke and Ryan Howard's bomb on Tuesday. The controversial interference call on Wednesday. The unforgettable comebacks on Thursday. Gone. Wasted. The Phillies lost yesterday to the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field, 5-1, to fall five games behind the New York Mets in the National League East. It marked their third straight loss after they had used a season-high six-game winning streak - including an unforgettable four-game sweep of the Mets at Citizens Bank Park - to move within two games of New York.

Chase Utley's World Baseball Classic checklist: Help Team USA win the championship. Return to Clearwater healthy. Get Jimmy Rollins a pair of Derek Jeter's cleats. "We'll see what he has to say," the second baseman said yesterday in the Phillies' clubhouse at Bright House Networks Field. Rollins asked Jeter two spring trainings ago for a pair of his cleats. The New York Yankees shortstop said he would send them over, but they never arrived. So Rollins asked Jeter again last spring.

They're not just numbers. If they were just numbers, nobody would retire them and put them on walls. If they were just numbers, players wouldn't buy them from teammates. Kids wouldn't fight with other kids on their Little League team to wear the ones they want. And adults wouldn't be able to memorize their pin code by repeating over and over: Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton. Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton. Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton: 2032. Numbers aren't just a way for fans to identify players on the field.

A day after he told Foxsports.com that he wouldn't be shocked if the Phillies dealt him at the trade deadline next month, Cliff Lee said his first choice was to remain in Philadelphia and win here. "Yeah, this is where I signed as a free agent and this is where I want to be," said Lee, who is in the third season of a five-year deal that guarantees him $62.5 million beyond this season. "But I definitely want to win, there's no doubt about that. That's the main thing. " That, of course, is also the main reason Lee opted to sign with the Phillies as a free agent before the 2011 season.

1. Roy Halladay                2. Placido Polanco 3. Chase Utley                4. Shane Victorino

CLEARWATER, Fla. - One of the more intriguing players to land in the Phillies organization out of last year's draft is an outfielder-turned-second-baseman who pitched with both hands in high school and currently rides to practice on a beach cruiser he purchased from Target. "It's actually my second bike," Andrew Pullin said as he flipped down his kickstand and took a seat in the shade on a hellaciously muggy Florida afternoon. "The first one was stolen. " Pullin is the kind of player who makes personnel men dream.

Cameron Perkins was not taken until the sixth round of last year's draft, but he is the closest member from the Phillies' class of 2012 to the big leagues. "Cameron has been kind of a surprise," said Marti Wolever, the Phillies' assistant general manager in charge of amateur scouting. "When you look at him as an outsider looking in, he's a little knock- kneed and he kind of looks like Bambi when he runs sometimes. The bottom line is the results on the field and they were pretty good in college and they've been pretty good here.

Before Chase Utley took a swing during batting practice in Miami and pain shot through his rib cage, Charlie Manuel advised Freddy Galvis to rehearse patience. "He's going to be an everyday guy in the big leagues," Manuel said. "It's just a matter of time. " The Phillies manager said that one day before Utley was hurt. He did not want Galvis ascending to the lineup in this fashion. Utley was placed on the 15-day disabled list with what the team called "a very mild oblique injury.