Dynamic Duo

Despite this season of ups-and-downs the Phillies have somehow managed to creep back into the NL East race. As Todd Zolecki points out in his piece in the Inquirer this morning:

"...the Phillies improve[d] to 34-31 [with their win last night], the first time this season they have been three games over .500. They have the best record in the NL since April 20, after they started the season 4-11. They are 30-20 since then, but the New York Mets still had an 81/2-game lead over them in the NL East on June 2."

Not now, they don't.

New York's lead is down to three and the second place Braves are a single game ahead of the Phils. While the Phillies have struggled to find consistency and to remain healthy their chief division rivals have also struggled. The Mets and Braves have seen their share of injuries and inconsistencies and, of course, the Phils have made up considerable ground against them both in the best possible way, going head-to-head, having swept their recent series in Atlanta and New York!

Throughout their roller coaster season two players -- Chase Utley and Cole Hamels -- have remained remarkably consistent and productive and last night against the Chicago White Sox the same pair led the Phillies to victory. All of us have run out of superlatives for Utley, but that doesn't stop us from trotting out more. When Utley came up the only "knock" on him was his defense. Being Chase, he worked on that facet of his game and has become a very good second baseman. If you asked the other member of this consistent duowhat play by Utley impressed him the most last night, he probably wouldn't say it was the two-run homer or two-run single but the diving backhand behind second base and throw from one knee that caught the runner at first (with a mighty assist from a Ryan Howard's long stretch).

Hamels and Utley are intensely competitive but there the similarities end. Where Hamels is expressive and talkative, Utley just grimaces and plays on. Hamels is quick to tell listeners what he did wrong and others behind him did right. He is unabashed in his ambitions to play with the best and be considered among the best, but there isn't the slightest bit of strutting associated with his cockiness. Utley, on the other hand, says little about himself, literally letting his actions speak for him. Already an All-Star, Utley again leads all NL second baseman in the voting this season. Opposing teams may discuss ways to avoid having Ryan Howard beat them with one swing -- applying shifts, intentionally walking him, busting him inside over and over -- but they haven't come up with a strategy to stop Utley.

If Hamels has one weakness it is his tendency to give up the long ball, sometimes in bunches. But it is his ability to shake off those momentary lapses that singles him out in this, only his second season in the big leagues. After surrendering back-to-back home runs in the first inning of last night's game, he settled down to yield only four more hits over eight innings, striking out eight en route to his league-leading ninth victory of the season. Afterwards, he praised the defense behind him. No doubt Chase Utley just shrugged.