Chase is on: Utley having Series to remember

PHILADELPHIA — If you've seen Chase Utley(notes) in commercials touting a sports recovery drink, you know he's in great shape. Good thing. He's shouldering quite a heavy load for the Phillies' offense in the World Series.

Utley hit two more homers Monday night, propelling the Phillies to an 8-6 victory and extending the World Series to a sixth game. That's five homers for the Series, tying the World Series record set 32 years ago by Reggie Jackson.

"Obviously, it's great company," said Utley, who is about as easy to impress as he is to get out. "At some point, not right now, maybe I'll look back on it and see what kind of special moment it is. But right now our goal is to win two more games."

The Phillies won Game 5 because they refused to let A.J. Burnett(notes) dictate the game as he did when he shut them down in Yankee Stadium. This time, they did not let him work ahead. "Come out and attack," Ryan Howard(notes) said.

Leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins(notes) swung and missed at a 94 mph high fastball on the first pitch and ended up singling after fouling off three pitches. "We wanted to come out very aggressive," Phillies batting coach Milt Thompson said. "That was a great at-bat by Jimmy."

After Shane Victorino(notes) was hit on the hand (X-rays proved negative, but he left the game later), up came Utley. Burnett threw a 94 mph fastball and Utley hit it into the right-field seats. The Phillies led 3-1 and the tone was set.

Utley's second homer came against Phil Coke(notes) to lead off the seventh. Coke said he wanted to throw a fastball outside but caught too much of the plate. "Right down the middle," Coke said. "You better not miss your pitch if you get it there, and he didn't.

"He has been amazing to watch."

Utley has emerged as the leading MVP candidate from a stable of superstars. In both of the Phillies' victories, he has homered twice. To his teammates, what Utley is doing is "phenomenal," as Ryan Howard put it, but not surprising.

"He had a 35-game hitting streak a couple of years ago," Thompson said. "I've seen him locked in like this before."

"When he gets hot, he can stay hot for a month or two," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

About the only thing not going so great for Utley is the attention that comes with tying World Series records. Given a choice of striking out or doing a press conference, Utley probably would have to think for at least a second or two.

"It's not my favorite part," he said. "My favorite part is playing the game. But (the media) comes with the territory."

Utley is so reserved he doesn't even want his manager gloating about him. But that won't stop Manuel, at least not all of the time. Utley is the manager's kind of player, old-school right down to not letting anyone know about his injuries.

"I don't even like to talk about him because he doesn't want me to," Manuel said. "But he's one of the most prepared, one of the most dedicated, has the most desire and passion to play the game that I've ever been around. I used to say Kirby Puckett was my favorite player, and all those things I just said, I used to say those about Kirby Puckett.

"The only thing Kirby might have on Chase is he's more flamboyant because he smiles a lot. Chase is different. He's quiet and he goes about his business in a real good way. I don't want to embarrass him but sometimes I tell our players, 'Just play with Chase,' because if you play with Chase, you've got a chance to be a pretty good player."

Stay with Chase and you also have a chance to win the World Series.

The Amazing Chase

Most home runs by a player in one World Series:

5: Reggie Jackson, New York Yankees, 1977 (6 games)
5: x-Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies, 2009 (5 games)
4: Babe Ruth, New York Yankees, 1926 (7 games)
4: Lou Gehrig, New York Yankees, 1928 (4 games)
4: Duke Snider, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1952 (7 games)
4: Duke Snider, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1955 (7 games)
4: Hank Bauer, New York Yankees, 1958 (7 games)
4: Gene Tenace, Oakland Athletics, 1972 (7 games)
4: Barry Bonds(notes), San Francisco Giants, 2002 (7 games)
x-active
— The Associated Press

This story appears in Nov. 3's edition of Sporting News Today. If you are not receiving Sporting News Today, the only daily digital sports newspaper, sign up today for free.

Stan McNeal is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at smcneal@sportingnews.com.

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