Chase Utley

Game three of the series between the Phillies and Pirates marked the  return of Chase Utley to the Phillies lineup, he didn’t disappoint, unfortunatley the Phillies pitching did in their 11-7 loss. You could feel the electricity in the air when Chase Utley was announced and made his way to home plate, he recieved a standing ovation, of course. Citizen’s Bank Park was rocking after Utley gave the Phillies a 1-0 with a home run in his first at bat. Then Carlos Ruiz followed with another homer, and you thought this was going to be the Phillies night, but…  the Pirates took over the game from the second to the fifth innings scoring eight runs off of the Phillies bullpen and after five it was 8-2 Pirates. The Phillies rallied cutting it to 8-7 after seven innings, and again Citizen’s Bank Park was rocking again, but….You could feel all the energy leave Citizen’s Bank Park when Chad Qualls put an end to the Phillies come back by giving up three runs in the top of the eighth to make it an 11-7 final. The Phillies drop to 36-41, while the Pirates improve to 39-35. Kyle Kendrick will be on the mound on Thursdsay afternoon’s game, with what the Phillies bullpen did in Wednesday night’s game, a complete game shut out from Kendrick would be nice, but that might be asking a little too much.

Star of the Game:

Mike McKenry, Pirates:  2/4, 1 HR, 4 RBI’s.

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