MILWAUKEE - The first half of Chase Utley's season - part of which was played with an inflamed right ankle - was marked by a major-league-worst .179 batting average. He was pounding balls into the ground and flying out to left field with regularity.
Utley then spent more than a month on the disabled list, returning to the team last week with what appears to be a healthy ankle and a new hitting approach. He entered Saturday's game with 11 hits in his 22 at-bats since returning on Aug. 7. All but one of Utley's hits have been to right or center field.