Utley’s homer defeats Pittsburgh, 6-3

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — It had been a long time since Chase Utley circled the bases at Citizens Bank Park. Too long.

Utley hit his first home run at home since July 7, and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied for a 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates Sunday.

Utley snapped a 3-3 tie with his 29th home run, a two-run shot to right off Pittsburgh’s Tyler Yates in the seventh.

Utley was 0-for-12 before the home run, after previous slumps of 0-for-24 and 0-for-17 since hitting .362 with 13 homers over the first 33 games. He went 1-for-3 to raise his average to .287, but still hasn’t had a multi-hit game since July 30.

Greg Dobbs added his major league-leading 21st pinch hit with an RBI double, setting a new club record. Dobbs is 21-for-51 as a pinch-hitter this season. His double tied the game before Utley homered.

Recently-acquired left-hander Scott Eyre (3-0) picked up the win for Philadelphia by throwing four pitches in one-third of an inning. Ryan Madson pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save in two opportunities.

Yates (4-3) took the loss for the Pirates by giving up three earned runs in one inning. Yates’ wife gave birth to a daughter July 31 and he has only made two appearances since that point.

Jason Davis, the 12th different starter for the Pirates this season, worked out of several jams and allowed only four hits and two runs — both unearned — in six innings after the game was delayed by rain for one hour, 47 minutes at the outset.

After Doug Mientkiewicz’s double in the second gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead, the Phillies went ahead in the third in a bizarre sequence of events. After Carlos Ruiz walked to lead off the inning, Jamie Moyer put down a sacrifice bunt in front of home plate.

Davis made an errant throw wide of first base, allowing Moyer to advance to second.

Moyer knocked down first base umpire Randy Marsh on his way to second and then advanced to third on another throwing error by Michaels from right field. A sacrifice fly to center by Jimmy Rollins scored Moyer.

“I was looking for the oxygen tank at third base,” Moyer joked.

The Pirates took a 3-2 lead with two outs in the sixth on a two-run double by Jason Michaels off 45-year-old Moyer, who gave up seven hits and three earned runs in six innings.