After a slow start, the Marlins have gotten their offense going and have been rewarded with a pair of victories. However, they'll have to keep swinging the hot bats without suspended manager Ozzie Guillen.
Oh, they also have to deal with Phillies ace Roy Halladay.
Miami goes for its second straight win over Philadelphia as the clubs continue a three-game series this evening.
The new-look Marlins were held to only one run over back-to-back losses to open the season, but have notched 19 runs in two of three since. They teed off for three homers in Monday's matchup with the Phillies, getting a pair from Omar Infante in a 6-2 win.
Austin Kearns also went deep for the Marlins and starter Anibal Sanchez limited the Phillies to a pair of runs and six hits over 6 1/3 innings.
Guillen didn't have much time to celebrate the win, which spoiled Philadelphia's home opener, as he headed back to Miami to address comments he made about former Cuban leader Fidel Castro in a Time magazine.
"I lived in Miami for a long time, I'm embarrassed," Guillen stated. "I did hurt a lot of people. I have to apologize because I did the wrong thing. It's not about what I'm going to do right now, it's about how I'm going to make it better in the future."
While many in the Miami have called for Guillen to lose his job as Marlins manager, the franchise has opted to suspend its skipper for the next five games, a decision supported by major league baseball.
"The Marlins acknowledge the seriousness of the comments attributed to Guillen," read a statement put out by the club announcing Guillen's suspension. "The pain and suffering caused by Fidel Castro cannot be minimized especially in a community filled with victims of the dictatorship."
Bench coach Joey Cora will take over for Guillen during the suspension and will be tasked with solving Halladay, a former Cy Young Award winner he has picked up Philadelphia's lone victory so far this season.
Halladay took the mound for the Phils' first game on Thursday in Pittsburgh and was on the right end of a 1-0 victory, hurling eight scoreless innings of two-run ball with five strikeouts and zero walks.
The 34-year-old righty is 4-3 with a 2.51 earned run average in his career versus the Marlins, numbers that include a perfect game pitched in the Marlins' old ballpark, Sun Life Stadium, back on May 29, 2010.
Marlins right-hander Josh Johnson was on the losing end of that historic 1-0 game and opposes Halladay again tonight. While Halladay was able to pitch a gem on the Marlins' home turf, Johnson has never lost at Citizens Bank Park, going 4-0 with a 1.87 ERA in six games (5 starts) on Philadelphia's home mound.
The 28-year-old is looking to bounce back from a shoulder injury that limited his starts a season ago, but struggled in Florida's home opener a week ago. Johnson was tagged for three runs and a career high-tying 10 hits over six innings to take the loss.
Johnson will try to stretch the Phillies' losing streak to four straight games this evening after the club's offense continued to struggle on Monday. Rookie second baseman Freddy Galvis had his team's only runs batted in, snapping an 0-for-12 drought to start the season with a two-run double in the seventh.
"What it comes down to is, we're not hitting the ball hard enough to score runs," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.
The Phillies won 12 of 18 versus the Marlins last year, taking seven of nine at home.
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