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Utley homers in return, leads Phillies rout of Mets

Aug 28, 2007 - 5:10 AM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- All-Star Chase Utley wasted no time making an impact in his return to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Utley homered and drove in two runs in his return from the disabled list to back six effective innings from rookie J.D. Durbin as the Phillies posted a 9-2 victory over the first-place New York Mets on Monday.

Utley, who had been out since July 27 with a broken hand, hit a solo homer to center field off Brian Lawrence (1-2) in the fifth inning and added an RBI double in the sixth.

"My hand felt pretty good," Utley said. "It was good to be out there again. I was going stir-crazy being on the bench."

"He's an excellent player," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "I'm not looking forward to seeing him again like that. It looks like he's back on track."

Jayson Werth went 4-for-4, giving him hits in nine straight at-bats for Philadelphia (68-62), which pulled within five games of New York (73-57) in the National League East.

Werth is one hit shy of tying the NL record of 10 consecutive at-bats with a hit, which has been done by 10 different players.

"I feel good," Werth said. "I've been feeling good lately. I'm comfortable and I've got some confidence up there and making good swings."

With the Phillies leading, 3-2, in the fifth Utley blasted an 1-0 offering from Lawrence over the center field wall. Ryan Howard followed one batter later with a double, and later scored on a double by Gregg Dobbs to put the Phillies up, 5-2.

"We were still in the game at that point, but the momentum definitely swung back their way," Lawrence said.

That spelled the end of the night for Lawrence, who was tagged for six runs and 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings.

"(The Phillies) were hitting the ball really well," Lawrence said. "They've got some guys top to bottom that are tough outs."

Utley, who was hitting .336 with 17 home runs and 82 RBI before being injured, helped Philadelphia expand their lead in the sixth. He stroked a one-out RBI double to left-center that scored Jimmy Rollins all the way from first base to make it 6-2.

"With (Utley) back, it definitely brings that presence back," Howard said. "It looks like he didn't miss a beat and him coming out with a bang the way he did tonight, people are probably gonna be worried."

That was more than enough support for Durbin (6-3), who held the Mets to two runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He had six strikeouts and did not walk a batter.

"(I) was just getting ahead of guys," Durbin said. "I got ahead and made them hit the pitches that I wanted. My slider was a little bit better today, and I was able throw it in every situation. It paid off."

The 25-year-old righthander retired the first 12 hitters he faced and exacted some revenge on New York, which blasted him for six runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings in his major league debut on June 29.

"I was real calm," Durbin said. "(Before the game), I went and picked up dry cleaning and just did some stuff to keep my mind off the game to relax me, and it helped out. It makes it so much easier when you don't have to think about it all the time."

Philadelphia, which leads the NL in runs scored, continued to pile it on with three runs in the seventh as Jayson Werth singled and came around to score on a double by Chris Coste for a 7-2 lead. Tadahito Iguchi, who replaced Utley when he was injured, followed with a pinch-hit two-run homer to left to cap the scoring.

Werth, who went 5-for-5 in Sunday's 14-2 win over San Diego, got the Phillies on the board in the first with an RBI double.

In the third, Pat Burrell, who has demolished New York pitching to the tune of 38 home runs, blasted a two-run shot to left that put Philadelphia up 3-0.

The Mets, who won three of four here in late June, cut the deficit to 3-2 with two runs in the fifth.

After Carlos Beltran broke up Durbin's no-bit bid, Paul Lo Duca, who returned from the DL, blooped a two-out RBI single to center field. Shawn Green followed with a single before Lawrence singled off the glove of Greg Dobbs at third to score Lo Duca.