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Ryan Howard, Chase Utley doing batter for Phillies

Despite loss to Rockies, Howard hit a home run and Utley smashed a triple.

Ryan Howard watches his home run exit the ballpark in yesterday's game. (Associated Press)
Ryan Howard watches his home run exit the ballpark in yesterday's game. (Associated Press)Read more

DENVER - Despite losing two of their last three games at Coors Field, splitting a four-game series with the Colorado Rockies, one of three teams in the National League with fewer wins than they have, the Phillies left the first leg of their 10-game, three-city trip in good spirits.

The way they saw it, following a 7-3 defeat yesterday in Denver, they have still won seven of their last nine games entering the holiday weekend in Washington. Before yesterday, they had scored four or more runs in seven straight games, their longest such streak in four seasons.

They had seen the two most important cogs in their lineup for the last decade - Ryan Howard and Chase Utley - emerge into something resembling their former All-Star selves.

Howard homered for the second straight day and Utley upped his modest hitting streak to six straight games with a triple in the Phillies' getaway game in Colorado.

"This stretch is when things have kind of turned on for us," said Howard, who has hit five home runs in his last 15 games. "Guys have been stepping up in different situations, getting hits and making plays, on both sides of the ball . . . I think the biggest things to take away from it is the energy, getting down and battling back. Staying in the games. I think that's definitely something that's been really good for us and just continue to try to build on it."

While the Phillies' run of improved play has gone on for a little over a week, Howard's surge began a month ago. Since April 21, he's hitting .290 with a .973 OPS, nine home runs, a triple, five doubles and 19 RBI in 28 games.

Over that stretch, only two players in baseball have hit more home runs: Washington's Bryce Harper (11) and Miami's Giancarlo Stanton (10). Howard hit his ninth home run of the season yesterday in his 150th plate appearance. Last year, Howard didn't hit his ninth homer until his 207th plate appearance.

"I mean, all that stuff is cool," Howard said. "For me, it's just a matter of just getting back to playing ball and just playing my game. That's been my focus all year, is just playing ball. Everything that comes with it, you have good days, bad days, just try to stay even keel and just do what you do."

Utley knows the feeling, following the frustration that mounted over the course of the season's first six weeks, which led to some unfortunate casualties (some of his dearly departed bats). He was demoted to the sixth spot in Ryne Sandberg's lineup a week ago, when he took a major league-low .118 batting average into his 32nd game of the season.

Since that day, however, Utley is 9-for-20 (.450) with four doubles, a triple, four walks and one strikeout in six games. He had his second straight multihit game yesterday, when he led off the fifth inning with a triple and scored on a Darin Ruf sacrifice fly.

It was the first time Utley collected at least two hits in back-to-back games since Aug. 27-29 of last season. He has raised his average from .118 to .169 in a week's worth of games.

"A lot of it doesn't look drastic to me, other than the hits falling in," Sandberg said. "He's chipping away at it and being productive right now. It's good to see."

"I feel like I've been swinging the bat a little bit better over the past 10 days or so - a little better," said Utley, who hit second yesterday after returning to his third spot on Wednesday. "There's still work to do. Obviously, having some hits fall can help the confidence."

Back-to-back series against Arizona and Colorado (two teams that are a combined 10 games under .500) can help build confidence, too. Howard, Utley and the improving Phillies lineup will face a much-stiffer challenge in the final two stops on their current road trip against divisional foes.

The Washington Nationals and New York Mets, who have been neck-and-neck atop the National League East this week, both field impressive starting-pitching staffs.

"It will be a challenge. We're going up against three good starting pitchers," Sandberg said of the upcoming series in Washington. "Then again, we'll have Cole [Hamels] and [Aaron] Harang going also, so there will be some good matchups there. But I think that we're swinging the bats better, so I feel better about it than a month ago when we played them."

Although the bats have gotten going in the last week, the run of sturdy starting pitching came to an end on the team's final day in Denver. After Howard's solo home run tied yesterday's game at 3-3 in the fifth inning, Jerome Williams served up a go-ahead, two-run homer three batters into the next half-inning.

"I think I threw a good pitch there," Williams said. "I don't know what else to say."

Williams was charged with five runs on eight hits in five innings. He has a 7.03 ERA this month and a 5.44 ERA this season, seventh highest among qualifying starters in the National League.

The Phillies' starting rotation had a 1.43 ERA in their last eight games entering yesterday.

Blog: ph.ly/HighCheese