Do you want the know the difference between the Eagles and the Phillies?
The Eagles have always had one or two true stars who can take over a game, but very few times have they had the luxury of three dominant players who can get the job done by themselves if that’s what it takes.
You saw wide receiver DeSean Jackson do it on Monday night but the Eagles argued for years that you didn’t need a star receiver.
The Phillies have three Hall-Of-Fame level players and at any time they can put this team on their backs and carry them to victory. We’ve seen Ryan Howard do his thing in the previous series and we’ve also seen Jimmy Rollins make magic happen.
Last night that role was played by Chase Utley.
He stepped up on the biggest stage in Major League Baseball and showed why he’s one of the game’s best players.
You could tell that Utley was dialed in on C.C. Sabathia’s fastball befofre he hit his first home run. I saw the sign when he started fouling his fastball straight back.
Then on a 3-2 count, Sabathia made a mistake and Utley made him pay.
“It was nice for us to get off to a good start,” Utley said. “The goal isn’t to hit home runs. The goal is just to put good at-bats together.”
He hit the second one better than he hit the first but they were both fastballs.
“I was just trying to put him away,” Sabathia said. “He had fouled off a lot of pitches. I tried to get a 3-2 fastball over, and it went over the heart of the plate. I missed my spot both times.
“The second home run, the pitch was supposed to be up and in, another mistake.”
“Well, he got some balls in the middle of the plate to Utley, and Utley made him pay,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “We all know Utley is a great player. He’s got power. He’s got a short stroke. CC missed some spots, and [Utley] didn’t miss them.”
