Utley finished 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and an intentional walk. Good thing for the NL champions that the three-time All-Star second baseman came swinging, because Ryan Howard and the rest of the big hitters had their share of problems after waiting nearly a week to play.

The Phillies were 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position, including an RBI groundout by Carlos Ruiz.

"Obviously, in an ideal world, we would like to play a couple of days afterward," Utley said. "But looking back on it, it allowed guys to rest a little bit. I don't think it threw off our timing too much."

The Rays had two days off after beating Boston in seven games to win the AL pennant, while the Phillies sat around after beating Los Angeles in five games in the NLCS.

Utley hit a career-best 33 homers in the regular season. But when he saw the Rays put on an extreme shift, he looked to bunt against hard-throwing lefty Scott Kazmir. He fouled off the attempt and ended up hitting one out to become the 34th player to homer in his first Series at-bat. Dustin Pedroia and Bobby Kielty did it last year for Boston against Colorado.

"Some teams do it more than others," Utley said of the shift. "You've got to pick your timing if you're going to try to bunt there. I guess it turned out pretty well."

How'd Utley celebrate his second postseason homer? He put his head down and jogged quickly around the bases, just like he does every time he goes deep. No fist-pumping, hand-gesturing or anything else from this old-school baseball rat.

"I try to treat every day the same, whether it's the first day of spring training or today," Utley said.

Utley hit .277 with 13 homers against lefties in the regular season. But Kazmir allowed only one homer to a left-handed hitter in 131 at-bats; Boston slugger David Ortiz connected off him on Sept. 15.

"That fastball to Utley, it was my one bad pitch of the night," Kazmir said.

Philadelphia's offense, inconsistent all season, couldn't do much else.

Howard was 0-for-4, striking out three times, including twice with a runner on third and one out. Jimmy Rollins was 0-for-5 with two strikeouts and flied into a double play with the bases loaded in the second. Pat Burrell went 0-for-3.

Overall, Utley hit .292 and had 104 RBIs this season, doing most of his damage before the All-Star break. A nagging hip injury may be why Utley's production dropped in the second half - he had 12 homers in the last 103 games - but he never made excuses or asked out of the lineup.

His sweet swing looks just fine now.

Utley got hot against the Dodgers, going 6-for-17 with a homer and three RBIs, and has reached safely in 12 straight postseason games. Before playing Los Angeles, Utley had been 4-for-26 (.154) in his postseason career.

Seeking their second World Series title in 126 years - the other was in 1980 - and Philadelphia's first championship since the 76ers won the NBA title 25 years ago, the Phillies didn't play like a team with the weight of a championship-starved city on their shoulders.

With manager Charlie Manuel cracking jokes and providing rubber ducks in every player's locker as a prop to remind them to stay loose, the Phillies looked like the October regulars.

This was no hostile road environment, either.

Plenty of red-clad fans came from nearby Clearwater, where the team has had spring training since 1947, and from Philadelphia. They gathered behind the Phillies dugout three hours before game time and whooped it up Philly-style.

One fan held up a sign that read: "It's not Christmas yet, but get ready for some Cole in your stocking."

Another sign said: "You have the cowbell. We have the Liberty Bell."

Three more wins, and the Philly faithful will have a parade on Broad Street.