Skip to content
Phillies
Link copied to clipboard

Phillies game postponed due to rain

Second baseman Chase Utley was ready to get the night off. It turns out all of his Phillies teammates got one as well.

A tarp covers the field at Citizens Bank Park after a rain storm canceled an interleague baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago White Sox, Friday, July 12, 2013, in Philadelphia. (Matt Slocum/AP)
A tarp covers the field at Citizens Bank Park after a rain storm canceled an interleague baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago White Sox, Friday, July 12, 2013, in Philadelphia. (Matt Slocum/AP)Read more

Second baseman Chase Utley was ready to get the night off. It turns out all of his Phillies teammates got one as well.

Friday's game with the Chicago White Sox was postponed and will be made up as part of a Saturday day-night doubleheader, with the games at 3:05 and 8:15 p.m.

Utley had started 20 straight games since returning from his oblique injury on June 21. On the 20th of those games, he committed three errors in Thursday's 3-1 win over the Washington Nationals. Utley now has 10 errors this season.

"He has been playing [a lot] and I thought he has been running a lot, sliding, running the bases a lot and I thought it was time to give him a blow," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said on Friday afternoon, well before the game was postponed.

Manuel had inserted Kevin Frandsen in the lineup against White Sox lefthander John Danks.

"Frandsen is good at hitting lefties and I thought it was definitely a good time to give him [Utley] a break," Manuel said.

Manuel wasn't available after the game was postponed, so it's not known whether Utley will be back in the lineup for the 3:05 game when Danks will be opposed by Phillies righthander Jonathan Pettibone.

Utley is batting .275 with 11 home runs, 30 RBIs and an on base-plus-slugging percentage of 836.

No hard feelings

After he was selected to play in the All-Star Game, Phillies leftfielder Domonic Brown stated his desire to be part of the Home Run Derby.

Brown wasn't selected to participate as one of the four National League representatives, and wasn't asked once a replacement was needed. When Colorado's Carlos Gonzalez pulled out due to a sprained right finger, he was replaced by Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez.

The rest of the National League quartet consists of Home Run Derby captain David Wright of the host New York Mets, Colorado's Michael Cuddyer, a childhood buddy of Wright and Washington's Bryce Harper.

Entering Friday, Gonzalez led the National League with 25 home runs, with Brown and Alveraz tied for second with 23.

Even though Brown wanted to be in the contest, he had no bitterness toward not being chosen, even as a replacement.

"No, I am good with it, especially with a guy like Pedro Alvarez," said Brown, who has played more innings in left field (775 2/3) than any other Major League player. "He can hit the long ball."

Even though he isn't a participant, Brown is still looking forward to attending the event.

"It is definitely going to be fun to watch and I will have a lot of fun with it," he said.

Then he quietly displayed his confidence that there will be future opportunities.

"I look forward to next year or the year after that," Brown said. "So it's going to be a lot of fun."

Draft update

Friday was the deadline for Major League teams to sign draft choices, and the Phillies did not sign two of their top 10 choices.

Those not signing were fifth-round pick Ben Wetzler, a lefthander from Oregon State, and 151st overall selection and sixth-round outfielder Jason Monda of Washington State, who was selected 181st.

The Phillies didn't expect to sign Monda. Shortly after the draft, Phillies assistant general manager Marti Wolever said Monda originally "agreed, but then agreed not to agree" to sign.

The Phillies had been hoping to sign Wetzler, who was 10-1 with a 2.55 ERA this past season for Oregon State.

Extra bases

Danks is 0-5 with a 6.43 ERA in five road starts this year. . . . The Phillies are 5-9 in their 14 interleague games this season. . . . Phillies centerfielder Ben Revere had hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games, batting .446 in that span. . . . The Phillies entered Friday leading the Majors with 37 pinch hits and six game-winning pinch-hit RBIs. . . . Frandsen leads the majors with 11 pinch hits and is second with 10 pinch-hit RBIs. He is 11 for 31 (.354) as a pinch-hitter. . . . The Phillies have spent five days at or above .500 this season, but would get to two games over with a three-game sweep of the White Sox.