Utley Show Enough for Phillies to Best Yankees' Big Man

NEW YORK -- Much as we love to lean on numbers as we dissect the game of baseball, they often can mislead you. A look at just a part of the story told by the numbers can lead you astray.

If you looked at CC Sabathia's dominant statistics against left-handed hitters this year and figured that he'd be an especially tough assignment for the Phillies, you neglected to take one thing into account: Not all left-handed hitters are created equal.

Some, a very few actually, are like Chase Utley.

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The Phillies' All-Star second baseman hit two homers out of the left-handed batter's box against Sabathia in Philadelphia's 6-1 victory in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night. Sabathia had allowed just three homers to lefties all season, and none at Yankee Stadium. Utley is one of the rare lefties who actually hits better against left-handed pitchers. This year his OPS against southpaws was .962, compared to .877 against righties.

Raul Ibañez, another of the Phillies' left-handed hitters, is in his first year with a front-row seat to the Utley Show. He's been impressed.

"He's got a very short, compact swing and he generates a lot of torque," Ibañez said. "And he's got a great eye, too."

Utley put both on display as he single-handedly provided the Phillies offense against Sabathia, who had not given up two runs in a game yet in the postseason, let alone lost a game.

In the first inning, Utley drew a walk. In the third, he worked the count to 3-2 with a few foul balls before capitalizing on a mistake by Sabathia, a fastball that was supposed to be away but was instead over the middle. Three innings later, Utley got an 0-2 fastball that was supposed to be in, but Sabathia again left over the middle.

Utley hit both of those mistake pitches into the right-field seats, a pair of solo homers. The first was perhaps a product of the new Yankee Stadium, but the second was a no-doubter.

"Just missed location both times," Sabathia said. "He put some good at-bats on me."

"I've been watching him have those at-bats all season long. He's fouling pitches off, taking pitches. It looks like he's fighting and then all of the sudden he gets the barrel on one."
-- Raul Ibanez on Chase Utley Sabathia had no doubt made bad pitches to lefties other times this season, but rarely did they find the seats. Lefties hit .198 against him this season, with just 14 extra-base hits, including the three homers. Ryan Howard, who struggles with lefties because he has a longer swing than Utley, struck out in two of his three at-bats against Sabathia, and he doubled in the other.

"It's not the funnest at-bat," Howard said of facing Sabathia from the left side. "He's got a great breaking ball. When he has his two-seamer working pretty well, it runs back in. When he can start that breaking ball at you, it's tough for lefties."

Utley said he's simply gotten used to facing lefties because so many teams have thrown left-handed relievers at him because he bats in front of Howard.

"The more you face them, the more comfortable you get off them," Utley said. "That's it."

It's more than that, according to manager Charlie Manuel, who is still an old hitting coach at heart.

"He takes a lot of pitches, but his swing, he has tremendous balance and rhythm, and his swing produces a lot of bat speed," Manuel said. "He's got real quick hands to the ball. But he gets that from fact of his balance and his rhythm, his push off his back side. He's very simple. He's got a very simple load, just got his bat in a nice, easy comfortable position, just pushes it straight back and loads a little bit."

All that is just a long way of saying Utley gets the bat on the ball quickly, no matter the count or the pitcher.

"Chase battles every at-bat," Ibañez said. "He grinds out every at-bat. I've been watching him have those at-bats all season long. He's fouling pitches off, taking pitches. It looks like he's fighting and then all of the sudden he gets the barrel on one. He's a great player."

Utley's performance not only sparked the Phillies and helped to quiet the Yankee Stadium crowd, but it helped him set an obscure, yet nonethleless impressive, record. He has now reached base in 26 consecutive postseason games, a major league record.

One game into the World Series, Utley is going to make people forget that he hit just .220 in the postseason last year while playing with a sore hip that would eventually require surgery. He's going to make people forget all that talk earlier this postseason that maybe his hip was bothering again, both at the plate and at second base (causing a mysterious throwing issue).

"Chase is a gritty person," Jimmy Rollins said. "He was determined to make a statement, to not have a bad World Series."

So far, so good.