Florida (31-23) at Philadelphia (32-25)

The Florida Marlins finally found a way to slow down the Philadelphia Phillies’ dynamic offense in their latest game, and regained first place in the NL East.

With another win, they can keep it.

The surprising Marlins will try to extend their one-half game lead over the Phillies on Sunday when they look to take two of three in Philadelphia from their closest competitors.

Florida (31-23) was expected to be staring up at the rest of the NL East, but instead the Marlins have been one of baseball’s best teams through the first two months of 2008.

They had spent a good amount of time looking down at the other four teams in their division, but the Phillies (32-25) overtook Florida for first place with a 12-3 rout on Friday, their fifth straight during which they’d scored a total of 60 runs.

On Saturday, though, the Marlins found a way to at least temporarily quiet Philadelphia’s offense, limiting it to just six hits in a 7-3 win.

“It’s a big game because it gives us a chance to come out and try to win the series tomorrow,” said pitcher Ricky Nolasco, who allowed only two runs in 6 2-3 innings.

Florida’s bats gave Nolasco plenty of support, hitting three home runs off Phillies ace Cole Hamels. The Marlins have 79 homers—only Philadelphia, with 83, has more—and hit 43 in May, establishing a franchise record for the most home runs in one month.

Center fielder Cody Ross has certainly helped contribute to that total. Ross hit a two-run homer on Saturday, giving him 10 for the month—on only 14 hits.

Nine of his last 10 hits had been homers before a ninth-inning single.

“It felt kind of strange to hit a single,” Ross said.

Florida will turn to Andrew Miller (4-4, 5.53 ERA) as it tries to win its fourth road series of the season. Miller was awful in April, going 1-2 with a 9.12 ERA, but was much better in May, going 3-2 with a 2.43 ERA.

He’s still been inconsistent, however. The 23-year-old left-hander allowed four runs in 4 2-3 innings in a 5-3 loss on Tuesday at New York.

Philadelphia will counter Miller with a pitcher who’s nearly twice his age, but still plenty effective. Jamie Moyer (5-3, 4.45) has won his last three starts, limiting opponents to seven runs in 19 2-3 innings.

He lasted seven innings on Monday, allowing four runs while striking out an unusually high seven batters in the Phillies’ 20-5 win over Colorado.

Moyer has received double-digit run support in four of his last five starts, and Philadelphia has provided 7.3 runs per start.

“As quickly as you have it, you can lose it,” Moyer said. “It’s not about run support, it’s about winning. My goal is to make it stand up.”

Moyer has dominated the Marlins, compiling a 7-0 record and 3.05 ERA against them in seven career starts.

One Philadelphia player who has provided Moyer and plenty of other pitchers with support is Chase Utley, who leads the majors with 19 homers and the NL with 49 RBIs.

The Phillies second baseman had a career-high six RBIs in Moyer’s last start. Utley has homered in both games against the Marlins, and in five of his last six games overall.