Phillies down Rays 2-1

Follow along below for live updates as Chase Utley returns to the Phillies' lineup this afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays in Clearwater.

Utley is batting third as the designated hitter.

The Phillies' full lineup is here.

In his debut at-bat, Utley got a warm ovation from the crowd at Bright House Field, but he struck out against Rays pitcher Chris Archer. In his second at bat, Utley lined a single to left field for his first hit of the year.

David Murphy of the Daily News has more on Utley's return here.

Joely Rodriguez was the Phillies' starting pitcher. In his three innings on the mound, he allowed one run, one hit and one walk.

Top 9th: Justin De Fratus came on to finish things off, and with nine pitches he retired the first two batters he faced on a strikeout and a line out to Freddy Galvis at short. He struck out the Rays' Joey Butler to end it.

Bottom 8th: Cesar Hernandez lined out and both Chris Nelson and Chris McGuiness struck out, victimized by what appeared to be a strike zone slowly increasing in size.

Top 8th: Jake Diekman took over pitching duties for the Phillies, and got the first batter he faced looking with some well-placed 98 m.p.h. heat. A ground out and a fly out made it a quick appearance.

Bottom 7th: Cody Asche and Freddy Galvis were line out and pop-out victims in the seventh, and Ben Revere completed the 1-2-3 inning for Rays pitcher Mike Montgomery by grounding out.

Top 7th: Cesar Jimenez took over on the mound for the Phillies and struck out Nick Franklin swinging. Bobby Wilson followed with a walk, but was gunned down at second by Koyie Hill on a failed hit and run. Jimenez then got Mikie Mahtook looking.

Bottom 6th: As Chooch was praised by Biddle in an interview, the Phillies catcher flew out to right field to start in the inning and Domonic Brown struck out on a foul tip. Darin Ruf flew out to right center, making for a quick inning.

Top 6th: Howard, with another diving stop at first base, got the first out for new Phillies pitcher Ethan Martin. Evan Longoria followed with a single to left, and it was Howard again who speared a ground ball hopping over his head to get the second out as Longoria moved to second. The next batter, Steven Souza, worked a walk and he and Longoria moved into scoring position on a pitch that got away from Carlos Ruiz. Martin induced a fly-out, however, and the inning ended.

Bottom 5th: Cody Asche led off with a grounder that got under Rays pitcher Evertt Teaford's glove. Asche went to second on Freddy Galvis' ground ball single through the right side, bringing up Ben Revere, who bunted both runners into scoring position. Cesar Hernandez struck out looking on a loopy breaking ball, leaving things in the hands of Chris Nelson, who walked to load the bases for Ryan Howard. Howard battled but popped out.

Top 5th: Biddle came out for a second inning and gave up a lead-off single to James Loney before a Nick Franklin blooper dropped in front of Domonic Brown, putting runners at first and second. Ryan Howard helped things by running down a foul pop-up for the first out, losing his hat in the process. With the infield at double play depth, Howard scooped a grounder and got the runner at second, but Rays batter Kevin Kiermaier was too quick for the DP; fortunately Biddle's nasty breaking ball got Desmond Jennings to strike out swinging.

Bottom 4th: Utley singled to left with a line drive, then was replaced by pinch-runner Aaron Altherr. Howard homered to right, perhaps with a bit of help from the breeze. Carlos Ruiz popped out to shortstop. Rays starting pitcher Chris Archer then departed, having hit his pre-set limit of 50 pitches. Enny Romero replaced him and got Domonic Brown to fly out before K'ing Darin Ruf swinging..

Top 4th: Jesse Biddle replaced Rodriguez on the mound for the Phillies. Evan Longoria popped out to third base. John Jaso flew out to center field. Steven Souza lined out to right field.

Bottom 3rd: Cody Asche fouled out to third. Freddy Galvis flied out to center. Revere hit an infield single. Hernandez grounded out to shorstop.

Top 3rd: Kiermaier lined out to left. Jennings grounded out to third. Cabrera flied out to right.

Bottom 2nd: Ryan Howard struck out. Carlos Ruiz grounded out to shortstop. Domonic Brown grounded a single to center field. Darin Ruf grounded to third, Brown being forced out at second.

Top 2nd: Steven Souza Jr. grounded out to shortstop. James Loney grounded out to second, with 2B Cesar Hernandez making a nice throw from behind second base. Hernandez then botched a grounder by Nick Franklin, who reached first on the error. Curt Casali lined out to right field.

Bottom 1st: Ben Revere struck out on three pitches. Cesar Hernandez grounded out to third base. Chase Utley struck out.

Top 1st: Kevin Kiermaier grounded out to first. Desmond Jennings walked on four pitches. Asdrubal Cabrera grounded to short and Freddy Galvis forced Jennings out at second, but starting second baseman Cesar Hernandez's throw sailed way over first baseman Ryan Howard's head. Evan Longoria singled to center field, scoring Jennings. John Jason flied out to center, ending the frame.