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UTTERLY SCARY

NOW BATTING for Chase Utley . . . Franklin Pierce Adams once poetically proposed that the saddest of all possible words were Tinkers to Evers to Chance, an ode to a long-ago Cubs doubleplay combination. Phillies fans would strongly suggest that the five mournful words from Citizens Bank Park public address announcer Dan Baker are far more woeful.

Chase Utley was hit in the head with a pitch in the sixth inning of last night's game. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)
Chase Utley was hit in the head with a pitch in the sixth inning of last night's game. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)Read more

NOW BATTING for Chase Utley . . .

Franklin Pierce Adams once poetically proposed that the saddest of all possible words were Tinkers to Evers to Chance, an ode to a long-ago Cubs doubleplay combination. Phillies fans would strongly suggest that the five mournful words from Citizens Bank Park public address announcer Dan Baker are far more woeful.

Utley was lifted in the bottom of the eighth, two innings after being hit on the back of the batting helmet by a 91 mile-an-hour sinker thrown by Braves reliever Eric O'Flaherty.

Later it was announced that Utley had left the game for precautionary reasons related to a concern that he might have suffered a concussion. That's nothing to mess with. Catcher Carlos Ruiz was on the disabled list for 3 weeks last season after being diagnosed with a concussion.

That concern overshadowed other significant developments last night. Pinch-hitter Ross Gload, who has struggled mightily while playing with a hip injury, singled down the rightfield line to score Raul Ibanez in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Phillies a 3-2, walkoff win.

Roy Oswalt had his strongest start since returning from the disabled list, holding Atlanta without a hit through the first five innings. He ended up allowing just two runs on four hits in his seven innings.

Lefthander Antonio Bastardo returned to action for the first time since last Saturday. He's been sidelined because the team was concerned that his heavy workload was catching up with him.

The win gave the Phillies a 10 1/2-game lead over Atlanta in the National League East. Or, to put it another way, if the Phillies go 11-12 the rest of the way, the Braves would have to go 20-0 just to tie them.

None of that offsets the possibility that Utley could miss a significant period of time, although Charlie Manuel tried to remain upbeat.

"He was all right when he got back into the dugout," the manager said. "He was fine. He started getting headaches after a while when he went back on the field."

Said general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.: "The way to describe it is that he didn't feel 100 percent after getting hit. He felt OK right afterwards and then he started feeling, I guess, a little fuzzy. So we took the precaution of getting him out of the game.

"He's going to do some testing. He'll have an impact test at some point. The protocol is to wait a day or so to do an impact test, so he's going to be out a couple of days, at least.''

The second baseman did not accompany the team to Milwaukee last night and is expected to undergo further tests today.

In a strange twist, the circumstance that led to Utley's beaning were set up by an unrelated, disputed umpire's call.

With the score tied and two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Shane Victorino was on first base. Placido Polanco hit a line drive to right that was slicing toward the line. Jason Heyward raced over and laid out for the ball. First base umpire CB Bucknor signaled that he had made the diving catch. The Braves trotted off the field and into their dugout.

Except that Polanco remained at first base, pointing toward the outfield. The umpires huddled and crew chief Dale Scott ruled that Heyward had, in fact, trapped the ball. That resulted in an argument that resulted in Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez being tossed from the game.

Also out at that point was Atlanta starter Brandon Beachy. With the potential go-ahead run now at third, the lefthanded O'Flaherty came in to face Utley . . . and promptly hit him with a pitch that caromed high into the air.

Ryan Howard struck out with the bases loaded. And when Atlanta took a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh, the Braves had it set up for the kill: O'Flaherty in the seventh, lefty Jonny Venters in the eighth and closer Craig Kimbrel in the ninth.

Kimbrel never made it into the game, though, because the Phillies tied the score against Venters, who came into the game with a 1.39 earned run average.

So it was Peter Moylan, just off the disabled list, who started the ninth instead.

Ibanez walked with one out, Carlos Ruiz singled and Gload ripped a base hit to right that put the Phillies 43 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history.

Gload had just four hits in his last 33 at-bats.

"For me this is huge because I haven't had much of anything lately," he said. "I've been struggling pretty good. [The injury] is not an excuse. I work to get hits and if I don't, it's my fault."

Phillers

The walkoff win was the Phillies' seventh of the season . . . The Phillies became the first team to sweep Atlanta in a series of at least three games this season . . . Raul Ibanez' second-inning home run off Braves starter Brandon Beachy was the 250th of his big-league career.