Phillies outlast reds behind Utley

Chase Utley, who homered for the fifth straight game, Pedro Feliz and Chris Coste all went deep to increase the Phillies' Major League-leading dinger total to 88, as Philadelphia defeated the Cincinnati Reds in the opener of a four-game set.Jay Bruce went 2-for-4, including a homer for the third straight game, but the Reds were unable to bounce back from an early deficit. Edwin Encarnacion homered and Adam Dunn drove in two runs, but Bronson Arroyo lasted just 4 1/3 innings. Besides a few stragglers, the chants of "Bruuuuuce" were missing at Citizens Bank Park. Just about everything else was the same in road game No. 1 for Bruce. The 21-year-old kept hitting.
Bruce went 2-for-4 and is now batting .577 (15-for-26) with three homers and seven RBIs through his first seven big league games. He has a slugging percentage of 1.038.
"Jay hit the ball great. It's nothing new," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "We talk about it every day. It's the same thing. We hope he continues swinging until some of the other guys get hot."
After he smoked a line drive that was caught by Ryan Howard at first base in the first inning, Bruce returned in the third and lifted a 1-1 pitch from Kyle Kendrick into the left-field seats. It gave the rookie homers in three straight games.
"He's pretty good," Kendrick said. "The one he hit out was up and away. He still had to hit it, but he did. I have to give him credit. He put some good swings on the ball." Ken Griffey Jr. had the night off.
Utley also barrelled into a catcher, layed down a bunt and made two diving backhanded catches