Utley carries Phillies with bat and glove

Philadelphia Inquirer, The, April, 2008 by Todd Zolecki INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

DENVER - Chase Utley's bat is one of the hottest in baseball. That shouldn't surprise anybody.

"Are you surprised?" said Jayson Werth, who had an inside-the-park homer in last night's 9-5 Phillies victory over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. "Chase is one of the best players in the game. Period. If he didn't get hurt last year, it would have been interesting on who would have been the MVP."

Utley hit a solo homer in the sixth inning to cut the Rockies lead to 5-4. He has homered in five straight games to tie a franchise record with Bobby Abreu (2005), Mike Schmidt (1979) and Dick Allen (1969). He is hitting .476 (10 for 21) with six homers and nine RBIs.

But Utley's biggest play came in the third inning when the Rockies had the bases loaded with one out. He...