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Phillies-Marlins Preview

Jul 18, 2009 - 6:19 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Philadelphia (50-38) at Florida (46-46), 7:10 p.m. EDT

In five seasons under manager Charlie Manuel, the Philadelphia Phillies have been the NL's best second-half team.

Thanks to their continued red-hot play, the Phillies could be on their way to keeping that title for another year.

After coming out of the All-Star break with consecutive wins over the Florida Marlins, Philadelphia searches for a season-high eighth straight victory and will try to add to its franchise-record streak in Miami as the teams continue a four-game series Saturday night.

Since Manuel took over in 2005, the Phillies are 175-115 after the break, the most wins by any NL team. They've used strong second halves to rally for NL East titles over the New York Mets in each of the past two seasons.

This year, Philadelphia (50-38) built a six-game lead in the East over Florida (46-46) and Atlanta by winning 11 of its last 12, including Friday night's 6-5 victory in 12 innings at Land Shark Stadium.

"We got out there with the same (mindset) every day," Manuel told his team's official Web site. "We don't want to look ahead, and we don't want to look behind. We don't want to overreact to winning, and we don't want to get down when we lose."

In their seventh straight win in Miami, Chase Utley drove in the go-ahead run after hitting a two-run homer in the first. Jayson Werth drove in Utley with another single for one of his two RBIs.

"We're playing good," Werth said. "We should continue to play good baseball and turn it on here down the stretch. I don't think you've seen the best baseball we've played yet."

With his team outscoring opponents 76-32 over the last 12 contests, Phillies right-hander Joe Blanton (6-4, 4.44 ERA) will look to stay perfect in four career starts against the Marlins. He pitched seven scoreless innings in a 5-3 home win May 26 to improve to 3-0 with a 3.18 ERA all-time versus Florida.

Blanton, who has a team-best 10 quality starts, will also try to win three straight starts for the second time this season. He has allowed one run over his last 14 2-3 innings, including Friday night's 3-2 win over Pittsburgh in which Manuel called him "a bulldog."

"I've been called that before," Blanton told the Phillies' official Web site. "I kind of just go out there and grab the ball and just go for it. Try to throw a lot of strikes, attack and throw really quick. So I guess it kind of fits a little bit."

Marlins All-Star right-hander Josh Johnson (8-2, 2.74), meanwhile, will attempt to win consecutive games for the fourth time this season. He entered the break by allowing one run over 6 2-3 innings in Sunday's 8-1 victory at Arizona.

The Marlins are 14-5 in Johnson's appearances this season and he hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in a franchise-record 16 straight starts.

"Give (Johnson) a lead and I think everybody in this clubhouse has all the confidence in the world he's going to go out there and give us a win," outfielder Jeremy Hermida told Florida's official Web site.

Johnson, 3-1 with a 3.22 ERA in six career starts versus Philadelphia, threw seven scoreless innings April 24 but the Phillies rallied for a 7-3 win by scoring all their runs in the ninth.