Phillies defeat Marlins, 14-2

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - Charlie Manuel put his red Phillies hat on, leaned back in his chair at Sun Life Stadium, and finally could crack jokes about his offense Wednesday.

"We jumped our batting average, didn't we?" he said.

Outside the manager's office, Jimmy Rollins' iPod blared music louder than normal after a Phillies win. This particular night yielded a season-high 14 Phillies runs on a season-high 18 hits, and a 14-2 thrashing of the reeling Florida Marlins was reason to down a few frosty beverages in the visiting clubhouse.

"To have that kind of outburst," Ryan Howard said, "it's good to know it's there."

Because at times this season, the Phillies weren't sure they were capable of something like this. Chris Volstad did his best to raise the opposition's confidence. The Phillies scored five times in the third, effectively ending the game less than an hour after it began.

These two teams still play seven games in 2011 and it might be wise for Florida to avoid using Volstad if humanly possible. Without Shane Victorino and Placido Polanco, the Phillies' offense was dynamite. The best team in baseball has won seven of its last nine games.

This one will be remembered as much of the same. Florida has lost each of the last seven games against the Phillies started by Volstad. For the second time in less than a month, he was pounded by an offense that has difficulty battering the most mediocre of pitchers.

Volstad is 2-5 lifetime against the Phillies with a 5.88 ERA in 12 starts. The nine players in Manuel's lineup Tuesday had a lifetime .401 (55 for 137) batting average with 23 extra-base hits, including 14 home runs, against Volstad. And that was before another demolishing.

The Phillies have scored 23 runs in two games started by Volstad this season. In the 19 games between those days, the Phillies scored a total of 70 runs.

All five third-inning runs scored with two outs. The Phillies had runners on the corners with two outs and the Marlins' octogenarian manager was tasked with selecting whom Volstad should attack. The first choice, Howard, has hit home runs off 188 pitchers but more against Volstad than any other. The next option, Raul Ibanez, was a career .478 (11 for 23) hitter against Volstad.

So Jack McKeon called for four intentional balls from the home dugout. Howard trotted to first. Ibanez singled to center and two runs scored. Of the next six pitches Volstad threw, three were hit for singles. Only because Cole Hamels made two outs in the inning was Volstad spared more damage.

Manuel could be proud of just about every line on the box score. Jimmy Rollins tallied four hits and has 1,802 for his career - fifth in franchise history. He passed another iconic Phillies shortstop, Larry Bowa, with hit No. 1,799. That was a single with one out in the third, before chaos destroyed Volstad's night.

The Marlins chose to intentionally walk Howard then, and an inning later Howard showed why with one powerful swing. He mashed a Volstad slider to deep center field, beyond the 404-foot market on the teal wall, for a two-run home run.

Every starter but Hamels managed a hit. Hamels was excused for not swinging the bat in his first start since suffering a bruised right hand on a comebacker. His effort on the mound was more than plenty; an eight-inning gem that dropped his ERA to 2.40.

And Manuel could be a comedian about his team's offensive futility to this point. A banner night raised the team's batting average two points, from .245 to .247.

"Are we over .250?" Manuel asked.

The manager waited a few seconds to deliver the punch line to his own joke.

"No," he said, "we need three or four of those."

This is a start.