Aug 16, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley (26) watches his grand slam against the Philadelphia Phillies during the seventh inning at Citizens Bank Park. Photo Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
PHILADELPHIA — Chase Utley hit a grand slam and solo homer in his return to Philadelphia as the Los Angeles Dodgers battered the Philadelphia Phillies 15-5 on Tuesday night.
Howie Kendrick went 4-for-5 with a two-run homer for the Dodgers, and Yasmani Grandal went 3-for-4 with a two-run shot. Both drove in three runs.
Los Angeles piled up 14 hits in support of rookie right-hander Kenta Maeda, who went six innings to extend his personal winning streak to four. He is 12-7 this season.
Cameron Rupp, Cesar Hernandez and Ryan Howard homered for the Phillies, who saw a four-game winning streak come to an end.
Utley, a six-time All-Star while playing nearly 13 seasons in Philadelphia, was accorded a long standing ovation before he led off the top of the first. It was his first game in Citizens Bank Park since he was traded to the Dodgers last Aug. 19 for two minor leaguers.
His solo homer came off Phillies starter Vince Velasquez (8-5) during Los Angeles’ three-run fifth inning and his grand slam was off reliever Michael Mariot during an eight-run seventh. He now has 10 homers this season, three against his former team.
Utley, 2-for-4 with five RBIs in the game, acknowledged a curtain call from the fans after both homers.
It was the 23rd multi-homer game of his career, and the slam was his seventh. His last grand slam, and last multi-homer game, came on May 28 against the New York Mets.
Velasquez, 0-3 in six starts since the All-Star break, went six innings and yielded five runs and seven hits, including three home runs. He struck out 10, his third double-digit strikeout game this season, and walked one.
Maeda, a 28-year-old who spent his first eight professional seasons in his native Japan, allowed two runs and three hits in his six innings of work. He struck out nine and walked one.
With two outs and the bases empty in the second, Rupp lined Maeda’s first pitch, a curveball, over the fence in center field for his 14th homer of the season.
Kendrick hit a two-run homer with one out in the fifth. One out later, Utley added his solo shot on a 2-2 fastball from Velasquez that gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.
With two outs in the sixth Adrian Gonzalez singled and Grandal ripped Velasquez’s 1-2 fastball over the fence in left center, his 19th of the year, to increase the Los Angeles lead to 5-1.
Hernandez, who earlier in the game extended his on-base streak to 22 games, made it 5-2 when he lined Maeda’s 2-1 fastball into the right-field seats in the sixth, his third homer of the season.
The Dodgers broke it open in the seventh. With one out and the bases loaded Philadelphia reliever Elvis Araujo hit Gonzalez with a pitch to force in a run. Then Araujo issued a pair of walks to bring two more home.
Mariot replaced him and with two outs surrendered an RBI single to pinch hitter Rob Segedin. Utley followed by hitting Mariot’s 1-1 pitch into the seats in right, making it 13-2.
Howard hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh, his 18th of the year and the 375th of his career. He moved past Rocky Colavito and into sole possession of 76th on the all-time list.
The Phillies made it 13-5 on a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Tommy Joseph in the eighth, but Kendrick tripled home a run in the ninth. He later scored on Segedin’s infield out.
NOTES: Dodgers 2B Chase Utley was part of five straight National League East title teams (2007-11). He helped the team win the World Series in 2008 and the National League pennant the following season. Utley was traded to the Dodgers last Aug. 19 for a pair of minor leaguers, a deal completed late at night, well after a Phillies game concluded. “I didn’t really have the opportunity to say goodbye,” he said. “Everything happened pretty quickly last year. … If I had to write up a script, it would have gone a little bit different.” … The Dodgers reinstated RHP Casey Fien (right elbow tendinitis) from the disabled list and optioned RHP Brook Stewart to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Los Angeles also released OF-1B Zach Walters, who was designated for assignment Sunday.
