April 22 -- THRILL OF THE CHASE

DENVER -- So, Chase Utley made history in the sixth inning here last night, becoming only the fourth Phillies player to belt a home run in five straight games. The others: Bobby Abreu (May 8-12, 2005), Mike Schmidt (July 6-10, 1979) and Dick Allen (May 27-June 1, 1969). Pretty good company.

But it was Utley's mind-bending defense that had his teammates talking.

By now, it no doubt has been played on every highlight show. But, in case you missed it, Utley launched himself in the air, practically getting parallel with the ground, to snag Clint Barmes' grounder that hit the mound and changed direction. If the ball had gotten past Utley, it almost certainly would've scored at least one run, perhaps two. The Rockies already were leading 3-0 in the third inning against Kyle Kendrick, and they had the bases loaded with one out.

And while my game story in most editions of The Paper leads with slumping Carlos Ruiz's game-winning hit, the very latest edition features reaction from the Phillies on Utley's defensive wizardry, starting with The Man himself.

Utley: "The ball took a funny hop off the mound, but fortunately, it hung up in the air. I got lucky and caught it."

Kendrick: "It was amazing. That was the play of the game. I owe him a steak dinner. He's pretty good. He saved our [butts]."

Jayson Werth: "Incredible. One of the best plays I've seen -- ever."

Charlie Manuel: "Big play. Great play. That might've turned the game around."

***

If Manuel had to pick the faces for his Mount Rushmore of baseball players, he probably would start with Kirby Puckett and Harmon Killebrew. Hang around Manuel, and you'll hear him talk about those guys a lot. Tony Oliva is another player he mentions quite often. And, of course, he has a long relationship with Jim Thome. But Manuel puts Utley's name right alongside those others.

"Chase Utley is a very, very, very tough player," Manuel said before last night's game. "I've been in the game a long time, and he's as tough as any player I've seen. I'm talking about old throwback players, guys like Pete Rose and Kirby Puckett. You could put Utley in that category. He could play with any of them."

Also, within the notebook, J.C. Romero talks about how he convinced Jimmy Rollins to go on the disabled list.

***

Between Utley's heroics and Ruiz's big hit, I ran out of real estate in the 50-center to really get into Werth's inside-the-park home run in the sixth inning. The ball caromed off the base of the center-field wall and kicked away from Willy Taveras. Werth, probably the funniest guy on the team, was asked if he'd ever hit an inside-the-parker before.

"I was 13. Mount Zion," Werth said, referring to a suburb near his native Springfield, Ill. "Back fields. Corner field. No, it didn't get trapped under the fence."

Just the other day, Manuel was talking about how Werth is deceptively fast. Manuel even said he may take Werth in a foot race against Shane Victorino. So, how did Werth feel as he was rounding third and heading for home in the thin Rocky Mountain air?

"It's not the same as sea level, I'll tell you that," he said. "We almost had to call in an oxygen tank."

***

Spoke to Eric Bruntlett before batting practice yesterday about filling Rollins' shoes. Something to remember about Bruntlett: He's a .250 career hitter who began last season in the minors. In other words, he's no Rollins. But all the Phillies are really looking for from him is solid defense at shortstop, and he certainly came up big Sunday night with his game-ending -- and game-saving -- play to rob Carlos Beltran of the potential single that would've tied the score.