Aug. 5 -- FRYING THE FISH?

With a good week, the Phillies can open some distance between themselves and their closest competitor in the National League East.

They've been here before.

On July 4, the Phillies beat the Mets (and ace Johan Santana) at Citizens Bank Park to open a 5-1/2-game lead in the division. But the Mets won the next three games, the Phils' midseason swoon continued, and by July 24, they dropped into second place. But the Phillies rebounded last week, going 5-1 on a road trip to Washington and St. Louis and moving 2-1/2 games ahead of the second-place Marlins and three ahead of the third-place Mets. With the Marlins coming to the Bank for a three-game series starting tonight, it's a good chance for the Phillies to pick up more ground.

"If we play well, it could be great," Shane Victorino said. "We could separate ourselves from them a little."

The Phils have gone 4-5 against the Marlins this season. The clubs will have 48 games remaining after this week's series, including six head-to-head matchups. But the Phillies are positioned to play well this week. Ageless left-hander Jamie Moyer will start the first game of the series, and he is 10-0 in 10 career starts against the young, aggressive Marlins. Ace lefty Cole Hamels will pitch the series finale in a Thursday matinee after right-hander Kyle Kendrick takes the ball tomorrow night.

Here's your series preview:

MARLINS (59-53) at PHILLIES (61-50)
Tonight, 7:05: RHP Josh Johnson (1-0, 4.18) vs. LHP Jamie Moyer (10-6, 3.79)
Wednesday, 7:05: RHP Anibal Sanchez (1-0, 3.18) vs. RHP Kyle Kendrick (9-5, 4.59)
Thursday, 1:05: RHP Chris Volstad (2-2, 3.25) vs. LHP Cole Hamels (9-7, 3.37)
Hot: Marlins 3B Jorge Cantu is riding a 12-game hitting streak during which he is batting .321 (17-for-53); Marlins LF Josh Willingham has at least one hit in 10 of his last 11 games, batting .378 (14-for-37) during the stretch; Phillies CF Shane Victorino is batting .367 (29-for-79) with seven homers and 17 RBIs in his last 19 games; Moyer is 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA against the Marlins this season, 10-0 with a 3.03 ERA in his career against Florida.
Not: Marlins SS Hanley Ramirez has two hits and eight strikeouts over his last 19 at-bats; Marlins CF Cody Ross has one hit in his last 20 at-bats; Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins is hitless in 11 at-bats and 8-for-38 (.211) since being benched for arriving late July 24 in New York; Hamels has allowed 14 runs (eight earned) over his last 9-2/3 innings for a 7.45 ERA and hasn’t gotten a win since July 3, a span of five starts.