PHILADELPHIA — For all their big hits and long homers during the regular season, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard have to provide the Philadelphia Phillies with more offense in October. The slumping stars were a combined 4-for-26 in the first round of the playoffs against Milwaukee, but strong pitching and timely hitting from other Phillies carried the team into the NL championship series against Los Angeles. Utley and Howard also had troubles in their postseason debuts last year, and Philadelphia was swept out of the first round by Colorado. If the Phillies are going to beat the Dodgers and advance to the World Series for the first time since 1993, they'll need their 3-4 hitters to break out of their funks. Game 1 of the NLCS is tonight at 8:22 at Citizens Bank Park. "I'm trying to find holes, trying to put together good at-bats, trying to get on for the next guy," Utley said. "It's as simple as that. See the ball, hit the ball." ...
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