August 7, 7:05 pm: Phillies 11, Marlins 1 - W: Moyer (10-8) L: VandenHurk (3-3) S: Durbin (1)
August 8, 7:05 pm: Phillies 6, Marlins 4 - W: Lohse (7-12) L: Willis (7-12) S: Myers (8)
August 9, 7:05 pm: Marlins 4, Phillies 2 - W: Tankersley (5-1) L: Myers (2-4) S: Gregg (24)
The Phillies roll back to Philadelphia after an underwhelming 3-4 trip to the midwest which, although punctuated by Sunday's thrilling comeback victory, underscored just how much this team misses Shane Victorino and, obviously, Chase Utley. Not to mention league-average bullpen performance.
They face a Marlins team which has managed to remain afloat despite injuries to its young, talented pitching staff, including Josh Johnson, and underperformance from stalwarts of previous seasons like Dontrelle Willis and Scott "Li'l Sociopath" Olsen.
Nonetheless, they come locked and loaded with the always great Miguel Cabrera and Hanley "Better than Reyes" Ramirez, the best young left side of the infield in the league. Yes, even better than those two in Queens.
The Phils counter with the still-smoking Pat Burrell, who has carried his red-hot hitting from July into the new month, and of course the golden left arm of Cole Hamels in Thursday's finale. Edit: Except that Hamels does not pitch until Friday vs. the Braves. Whoops.
For more on the Marlins, please check out our SBNation sister site, Fishstripes.com.