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Apr 17, 2010 - 4:22 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Florida (6-4) at Philadelphia (7-2), 7:05 p.m. EDT

The Philadelphia Phillies are off to their best start in 17 years, and Chase Utley and their red-hot lineup is a big reason why.

Jamie Moyer has already benefited from the offense's superb start.

Utley looks to help the Phillies continue their surge Saturday night when they face the Florida Marlins in the middle game of this series.

Philadelphia (8-2) last opened a season with eight wins in 10 games in 1993. This fast start has been spurred by a .315 batting average, 15 homers and a major league-leading 7.8 runs per game. The Phillies hit .258 last season en route to a second consecutive NL pennant.

Utley has been a big part of the offensive spurt, hitting .368 with six homers and 12 RBIs to rank among the league leaders in each category. The second baseman has homered in four consecutive games, totaling five while driving in eight runs.

He continued that streak Friday, going 2 for 3 with a solo shot in a three-run seventh in an 8-6 win over the Marlins (6-5).

Utley has feasted on Florida's pitching, batting .354 with 13 homers and 45 RBIs in 50 home meetings. He's also 7 for 23 with a homer against Ricky Nolasco, the Marlins' scheduled starter.

Moyer (1-0, 7.50) could use another strong effort from the lineup in order to win his first two starts of a season for the first time since winning three in a row with Texas to begin 1989.

The left-hander - baseball's oldest player at 47 - allowed five runs and nine hits with two homers in six innings while the bats powered a 9-6 win at Houston last Saturday.

"I don't really try to go out and think about what my offense is going to do," said Moyer, who leads active pitchers with 259 wins. "I think I've got a big enough chore to try to pitch and pitch effectively. If I can go out and put zeros up, it doesn't put as much emphasis on them having to score seven, eight, nine runs a game."

Moyer is 13-4 with a 2.93 ERA in 17 starts against the Marlins. However, he's lost his last three home starts against them behind a 4.50 ERA while getting four total runs of support.

A road start could be just what Nolasco (0-0, 5.68) needs to rebound from a rough home outing.

Dating to last season, the right-hander is 6-1 with a 4.49 ERA in nine road games, including a 3-2 win at Philadelphia on Aug. 7 when he allowed two runs and four hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings.

Nolasco has thrived at Citizens Bank Park, going 4-1 with a 3.06 ERA in five games, winning the last three.

He didn't fare well in his first home start of the season Monday, giving up five runs and nine hits, including a career high-tying three homers, in six innings of a 6-5, 10-inning loss to Cincinnati.

While the Phillies have put together an impressive start at the plate, Jorge Cantu will try to re-establish his own productivity. The third baseman is on a career-high 15-game hitting streak dating to last year, during which he's hitting .322 with 21 RBIs. However, he saw his major-league record streak of 10 consecutive game of at least one hit and one RBI end Friday after grounding into a fielder's choice with two runners on to end the game.