Utley continues mastery of Sabathia

Frank Fitzpatrick

Nov. 2, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Before the World Series resumed Sunday night, many of the typical pregame questions focused on CC Sabathia, the Yankees lefthander who was set to pitch against the Phillies just three days after his previous start.

Was it too little rest? Was it wrong to pull an ace out of his season-long routine in November? Would he have his best fastball?

Afterward, all we really know is that Chase Utley had no problem with Sabathia's going on three days of rest.

In fact, the Phillies second baseman probably would like to see even more of the Yankees' redwood-sized ace.

In Game 4 Sunday night, he had an RBI double, a home run, and two RBIs off the New York ace, though it wasn't enough in a 7-4 Phillies loss that left the Yankees on the brink of a 27th world championship.

That production wasn't too different from what Utley did in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium. That night, he stroked a pair of home runs into the short rightfield pavilion in a 6-1 Phillies win.

But they had been his only two Series hits until Sunday night, when he saw Sabathia again -- a prospect that would dismay most lefthanded hitters.

So Utley has no hits and no RBIs against the rest of the Yankees' staff and four hits -- three homers and a double -- and four RBIs off their best pitcher.

"CC is an outstanding pitcher," Utley said after Game 1. "He's one of the best pitchers in the game. I thought we had a decent approach against him. I don't feel like we're intimidated. We all have confidence."

In his initial at-bat Sunday night, after Shane Victorino had blooped a one-out double, Utley dug into the box with a little more fervor than usual. The squinty gaze he fixes on opposing pitchers seemed a little more intense, no doubt because this was a must-win situation for the Phils. He crouched menacingly and waited for a pitch he could handle.

He didn't wait long. Sabathia left a sinker up and on the inner half of the plate. Utley pounced on it like a hungry leopard, lacing a sinker to the wall in right-center and scoring Victorino with a run that immediately cut New York's advantage to 2-1.

"Well, he got some balls in the middle of the plate to Utley, and Utley made him pay," Yanks manager Joe Girardi said after Game 1, an analysis he could have repeated Sunday night. "We all know Utley is a great player. He's got power. He's got a short stroke, and CC missed some spots and [Utley] didn't miss them."

He came up against Sabathia again with two outs in the seventh. The Phils still trailed, by 4-2 now, and there was a good chance the heart of the Phils' order would not come to bat again.

Utley saw five straight sliders from Sabathia, who by then was over 100 pitches. The fifth was a little too far in -- for Sabathia, not Utley.

The Phils' No. 3 hitter turned quickly on the ball and sent it deep into the right-field seats. As a somewhat somnolent Citizens Bank Park crowd exploded with noise, the Yanks' lead was down to 4-3.

Curiously, Sabathia's slider was a pitch Utley had passed on at Yankee Stadium, opting instead to look for a fastball.

"I remember he was pitching me tough," Utley said of his Game 1 success. "He was throwing sinkers in, he was throwing sliders. The approach I had, the approach I was going to try to have against him, was to try to lay off the slider, because the slider is a tough one to hit on the barrel, and try to hit his fastball. And I was able to do that.

"He left one kind of in the middle of the plate, and you can't miss those pitches against that type of pitcher."

His success against Sabathia mirrored the increasing success he's had against lefthanders in his career.

"I don't know, over the past four years I've faced a lot of lefthanders, especially out of the bullpen with Ryan [Howard] and I being lefthanded," Utley said after Game 1. "It seems like late in the game, there's always lefthanded pitchers facing us. I think the more you face them, the more comfortable you get off them, and that's it."

By the bottom of the ninth, Sabathia was gone. And the disheartening loss ended with Utley helpless in the on-deck circle.

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Contact staff writer Frank Fitzpatrick at 215-854-5068 or ffitzpatrick@phillynews.com.

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