Philadelphia @ Florida preview
Sun Life Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 13, 2010 ) Philadelphia 11, Florida 4
With the way the Philadelphia Phillies have been playing as of late, they might not need any additional help to gain their fourth straight postseason appearance.
Regardless, the two-time defending National League champions may see the return of the heart and soul of their team on Tuesday.
Jimmy Rollins is expected to be available in some capacity as the NL East-leading Phillies (84-61) face the Florida Marlins (73-70) in the second contest of their three game series.
An MRI on Monday revealed only a strained right hamstring and no additional damage for Rollins. The three-time All-Star shortstop sat out the weekend series against the New York Mets and the series opener against the Marlins on Monday - which resulted in an 11-4 triumph by Philadelphia.
Carlos Ruiz belted a two-run homer and matched a career-high in driving in four runs as the Phillies went deep four times to build an early 10-run advantage.
Jayson Werth, Chase Utley and Greg Dobbs blasted solo homers and Ryan Howard and Placido Polanco had run-scoring singles as Philadelphia secured its 13th win in 17 games.
With the convincing victory, the Phillies remained one game ahead of the Atlanta Braves (83-62), who posted a 4-0 triumph over the Washington Nationals on Monday.
On Tuesday, the Phillies will hand the ball to Cole Hamels (10-10, 3.06 ERA), who enters the contest with a career-best 25 consecutive scoreless innings under his belt.
With such a gaudy statistic, one would expect that the 2008 World Series MVP has put together at least three straight wins in that stretch.
You'd be right.
In his last outing, Hamels allowed four hits in seven innings to handcuff the Marlins last Wednesday. The Phillies' bullpen made things interesting, but Hamels picked up the win after an 10-6 slugfest.
Hamels will need to keep a keen eye on Dan Uggla and rookie Logan Morrison, who both went deep for the Marlins on Monday.
Florida will counter with Adalberto Mendez (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who made his debut against Philadelphia last Monday. The 28-year-old right-hander tossed six shutout innings and permitted just one hit before leaving the game with a cramp.
While Tuesday's pitcher has been named, the Marlins are tight-lipped as to which hurler will start Wednesday's contest.
Originally that spot in the rotation would have been handed to Josh Johnson, but the Florida ace was shut down for the season on Monday because of a strained back muscle.
Philadelphia knows its starter for Wednesday. It's Roy Halladay, who tossed a perfect game against the Marlins on May 29.