Chase Utley

MIAMI - The pitch went where Phillippe Aumont wanted it. Manager Charlie Manuel kept the ground-ball pitcher on the mound for this very reason. Chase Utley was positioned for a chance at preventing the winning run from scoring. The ball was hit right at him.  When the play ended, Placido Polanco belly-flopped on home plate and the Marlins claimed their second victory in 11 games, a 2-1 decision secured Saturday night with a ninth-inning rally.  "It was just a little fluke," Aumont said.

MIAMI - Friday's game was the first of 18 for the Phillies against the Marlins, a team ravaged by their madman owner and likely destined for last place in the National League East. If the Phillies want to compete in said division, it will require a constant punishing of Miami. For nine innings Friday, the Phillies matched the Marlins' ineptitude. Then Chase Utley dropped one inside the right-field line and set Ben Revere in motion. When he stopped, the Phillies led. It took 10 innings, but they defeated moribund Miami, 3-1. Utley, again, was the hero.

MIAMI - In anticipation of Friday's opening of "42," the inspirational sports biopic of Hall of Famer and civil-rights activist Jackie Robinson, Phillies centerfielder Ben Revere said he first heard stories of baseball's first African-American player of the modern era from his grandfather. John Henry Revere IV told young Ben about Robinson's game-changing speed.  "I'm still waiting to steal home one time, so I can show my grandpa I can do it," Revere said. "Hopefully, one of these days I will.

The Phillies hit three home runs in one inning and scored eight times on Tuesday night against the New York Mets. They hit three more home runs and scored seven times Wednesday to claim their first series victory of the season. Blasts in the past carried the Phillies offense, but in recent years the power slippage has been significant and debilitating. Ryan Howard, the team's primary power source since the second half of the 2005 season, and Jimmy Rollins, the team's unlikely leader in home runs a year ago, both refused to compare this year's lineup to the ones that mauled opponents from 2007 through 2009.

The Phillies played their ninth game of the season Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park, and infielder Freddy Galvis has started none of them. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. admitted that it is a concern that needs to be addressed. "Sometime soon - probably," the general manager said. "We kind of take it day by day. " Galvis has made three pinch-hitting appearances and is hitless with a strikeout. He flied out in the eighth inning Wednesday. Manager Charlie Manuel still believes the young infielder will benefit most by being on the big-league roster.

Phillies righthander Kyle Kendrick managed to overcome a few obstacles, including some early ineffectiveness and a 27-minute rain delay. On a night when he clearly wasn't at his best, Kendrick found a way to prosper. Kendrick gutted out six innings and earned the win in a 7-3 victory over the New York Mets Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park. "He was in trouble and got out of it, and that was big for him," manager Charlie Manuel said. "That was probably what [allowed him to go]

WE ENTERED the season knowing that the Phillies needed a lot of things to go right in order for them to return to the postseason, and the last couple of nights have offered a tantalizing glimpse at the kind of team they can become if those things break in the proper direction. Of course, two nights make for a small sample size. The last time the Phillies had faced Jeremy Hefner, all seven of the batters they sent to the plate against him ended up scoring runs. But a lineup can only hit against the pitchers whom the other team sends to the mound, and in rattling off their first back-to-back victories of the season, Charlie Manuel's team did just that.

The boos were loudest Tuesday when Charlie Manuel climbed the dugout steps to remove a Phillies pitcher. This was noise Manuel could handle. For one night, baseball's worst pitching staff succeeded. Cliff Lee was one out away from a complete game in the Phillies' 8-3 win over New York. The fans wanted a taste of elusive pitching nirvana in this early season. What did Lee say when Manuel arrived at the mound? "I don't remember," Lee said. "Oh," Manuel said, "he wanted to stay in, of course.