Chase Utley crushed the Phillies and Philly fans cheered him anyway
Consider this a testament to how much Philadelphia Phillies fan love Chase Utley: He hit two homers and drove in five runs for the other team Tuesday night and received two curtain calls from the Philly faithful.
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This was Utley’s first game back in Citizen’s Bank Park after the trade that sent him to the Dodgers last season. Previous to that, he played 15 seasons for the Phillies. It’s a fact that wasn’t lost on the hometown crowd, which cheered Utley from his first moment on the field and all the way through the Dodgers’ 15-5 trouncing of the Phillies.
Utley got a standing ovation when he led off the game for the Dodgers, then he earned a curtain after hitting a fifth-inning solo homer and they were still cheering for him when his grand slam capped an eight-run seventh inning for L.A.
Of them all, Utley seemed to cherish the standing ovation before his first at-bat the most, even though he struck out afterward. He told reporters, including Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times, that it was among the most nervous he’d been for an at-bat in his career.
“It’s completely overwhelming,” Utley said. “The standing ovation before my first at-bat was something that I’ll never forget, to be honest with you.”
Of all the things you can say about Philadelphia sports fans — and lots of them have been said, not all nice — let it never be said that they don’t absolutely adore Chase Utley. In any uniform.
TOP PERFORMERS
Mookie Betts: The Baltimore Orioles should just never pitch to Mookie Betts again. After hitting three homers on Monday night, Betts hit two more on Tuesday. He drove in all five of Boston’s runs in their 5-3 win over the Orioles. It was Boston’s fifth straight win.
Danny Duffy: Has Duffy emerged this season as the Royals’ ace? Sure looks like it. He improved to 10-1 on the season in Kansas City’s 6-1 win over the Detroit Tigers. Duffy tossed 7.2 innings, allowing just three hits and one run. His ERA is a fantastic 2.73.
Noah Syndergaard: All hail Thor! Syndergaard earned his 10th win of the year for the New York Mets, but that’s not what earns him top performer honors here. Syndergaard hit a two-run homer, his third of the season, to help the Mets to a 7-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Syndergaard was decent on the mound. He struck out eight but only lasted 5.2 innings. The homer, though, tied the Mets’ record single-season record for homers by a pitcher.
MUST-SEE PLAY
Anthony Rizzo turned in what was without question the play of the night. In the second game of a doubleheader between the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers, Rizzo hopped on the ledge at Wrigley Field and reached in the crowd to catch a foul ball. It was a thing of beauty, including the balancing act and the dismount.
The Cubs swept the doubleheader with a 4-0 win in Game 1 and a 4-1 win in Game 2. Their NL Central lead is 12.5 games.
REST OF THE SCOREBOARD
Rangers 5, A’s 4: Rangers win a wild one on a good ol’ fashioned walk-off hit-by-pitch. Yep, Rougned Odor got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring home the winning run in the 10th inning. It was the third run of the inning for the Rangers, who came back from a 4-2 deficit.
Angels 7, Mariners 6: The Angels rally for two runs in the eighth to come back and beat the Mariners, thus snapping their 11-game losing streak. Cliff Pennington’s triple brought home the go-ahead run.
Pirates 4, Giants 3: San Francisco’s bullpen comes up short again, as Derek Law allows the go-ahead run in the eighth inning on a Jung-ho Kang homer. With the Giants’ loss, the Dodgers take a half-game lead in the NL West.
Rockies 6, Nationals 2: Nolan Arenado, David Dahl and DJ LeMahieu each drive in two runs for Colorado.
Blue Jays 12, Yankees 6: The Jays explode for eight runs in the eighth inning to take down the Yanks.
Indians 3, White Sox 1: Jason Kipnis, Francisco Lindor and Mike Napoli each drive in a run for Cleveland, which now has a six-game lead in the AL Central.
Cardinals 8, Astros 5: St. Louis lost Matt Holliday and Seth Maness to injury Tuesday, but it won this one. Jedd Gyorko’s three-run homer highlights the offensive attack.
Rays 15, Padres 1: The Rays’ offense goes buckwild, led by a four-RBI day from Luke Maile.
Reds 6, Marlins 3: Tucker Barnhart’s grand slam is the hit that matters most for the Reds.
Twins 4, Braves 2: Ervin Santana throws seven scoreless for Minnesota.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
