Utley’s hitting streak reaches 32 games

? Chase’s chase is still on and he’s taking the longest hitting streak in the majors on the road.

All-Star second baseman Chase Utley extended his hitting streak to 32 games Monday with a single in the sixth inning of the Phillies’ 15-2 loss to the Florida Marlins, the second-longest streak in team history.

Utley went 0-for-2 against starter Josh Johnson before he singled off the glove of diving second baseman Dan Uggla. The infielder smacked his hand against the grass as the ball trickled away.

“He was hitting his spots with all his pitches,” Utley said of Johnson. “He was throwing the ball where he wanted to and he was keeping us off balance.”

Nothing, it seems, keeps Utley off balance for long these days.

He went 1-for-3 and was replaced by Danny Sandoval in the seventh. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel decided give his second baseman the rest of the steamy day off with the game out of reach and a long road trip ahead.

Shortstop Jimmy Rollins has the longest Phillies streak at 38 games – the final 36 of last season and the first two this year. Ed Delahanty had a 31-game run in 1899.

“Hopefully he breaks all of them, the way he’s going right now,” Rollins said Monday. “We need it.”