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Utley goes deep again as Phillies edge Reds

Jun 3, 2008 - 4:30 AM By Larry Dougherty PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) - Red-hot Chase Utley once again ignited the Philadelphia offense, homering in his fifth straight game to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-4 victory over the visiting Cincinnati Reds on Monday night.

Utley's two-run first inning blast, his Major-League-leading 21st of the season, was one of three Philadelphia home runs in the game. Pedro Feliz and Chris Coste went back-to-back in the fourth inning upping the Phillies' home run total to 88 on the season, tops in the majors.

Starter Kyle Kendrick (5-2) failed to make it through the sixth inning, but the Phillies bullpen, which owns the lowest ERA in baseball (2.65), held the Reds scoreless over the final 3 2/3 innings.

The Phillies have now won seven of their last eight games while the Reds saw their three-game win streak come to an end.

Utley, who is hitting .419 with seven homers and 20 RBI over the last eight games, started the scoring off with his two-run blast. It marked his second five-game home run streak of the season.

"I think everybody throughout the course of the year has some good days and some bad days," Utley said on his current hot stretch. "You want to keep the good days rolling as much as possible."

"He is swinging the bat as good as I have ever seen him and he gets it done every night," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

Trailing 2-0 in the fourth, rookie phenom Jay Bruce cut the lead in half with a solo homer. Bruce, who also added a single and scored a two runs, is now 15-for-27 with three homers, seven RBI, two steals and six walks over his first seven games in the big leagues.

"I'm just trying to stick with an approach," Bruce said. "I'm trying to help the team win. Do whatever I can. I'm having a blast up here. I'm having a lot of fun."

"Jay hit the ball great," Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker said. "It's nothing new. We're talking every day about the same thing. We just hope he continues swinging until some of the other guys get hot."

The Phillies answered Bruce's blast with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Geoff Jenkins led off the frame with a double to left center with Feliz connecting on a two-run homer to left. Coste followed that with a solo shot marking the fourth time Philadelphia has hit consecutive homers this season.

"It was nice to get a lead like that," Kendrick said. "I did not have my good stuff tonight. It was tough there in the sixth. The offense is swinging the bats real well and we need to keep it going."

Philadelphia loaded the bases in the fifth inning on singles by Utley, who had three hits in the game, and Pat Burrell, and a walk to Jenkins. Gary Majewski relieved Bronson Arroyo (4-5), who allowed 10 hits and five earned runs in his 4 1/3 innings of work, and got Feliz to ground into a double play to end the threat.

"You're gonna have to bring your A game to beat these guys," Arroyo said. "Actually, being a 5-4 game was a lot closer than it probably should have been as bad as I pitched."

"Bronson didn't have it tonight really," Baker added. "We tried to stick with him and I thought we had a great chance to win that game. He made some mistakes and they didn't miss them."

The Reds plated two runs in the sixth to cut the Phillies lead to 5-4. Adam Dunn delivered the big blow, a two-run, two-out double off reliever Chad Durbin that scored Ryan Freel and Bruce.

The Phillies pen then shut down the Reds, allowing just two hits the remainder of the game. Tom Gordon tossed a one-two-three eighth and Brad Lidge did the same in the ninth to record his 14th save.

Two career-high hitting streaks were extended in the game. The Reds' Jerry Hairston upped his streak to a 10 games with a single in the sixth while the Phillies' Shane Victorino improved his to 14 consecutive games.

Reds' slugger Ken Griffey, Jr., one shy of becoming the sixth player in Major League history to hit 600 home runs, was scratched from the lineup due to general soreness.

"We can do without Griffey in their lineup," Manuel smiled."I like that."