Carlos Ruiz matched a career-high with four RBI, Joe Blanton allowed one run in six innings and the Phillies continued their September sizzle beating the Marlins 11-4 on Monday night in Miami.
Ruiz, Jayson Werth, Chase Utley and Greg Dobbs all homered for the NL East-leading Phillies, who are 10-3 in September. The Phillies remained a game ahead of Atlanta, a 4-0 winner over Washington.
Slugger Ryan Howard reached the 100-RBI mark for the fifth straight season, while Werth and Utley each scored twice. Blanton (7-6) struck out eight and walked two, dropping his ERA to 5.00, the lowest it's been since May 8.
The big bright spot for the Fish was Dan Uggla. The slugger hit his 30th home run for Florida, making him the first second baseman in major league history to reach that plateau four straight seasons.
Other than Uggla's piece of history and a few other late runs scored, it was a bad day all around for Florida.
The Marlins started Monday by shutting down ace right-hander Josh Johnson for the remainder of the season because of a strained back muscle. The Phillies then simply overpowered Andrew Miller (1-2).
Miller gave up nine hits and seven runs, five earned, in five innings.
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For the second straight meeting between the teams, the Phillies ran out to a 10-0 lead.
Werth and Utley started the scoring with solo home runs, Ruiz added a two-run homer in the fourth inning, and then Philadelphia really began rolling. Utley and Howard scored on the same play in the fifth, after Werth singled to left. Morrison didn't field the ball cleanly for an error, then made a second error when his errant throw rolled into the Phillies' dugout.
Howard collected his 100th RBI on a single in the sixth, and Ruiz pushed the lead to 10-0 by drawing a bases-loaded walk.
Same teams meet Tuesday night as Cole Hamels takes to the hill for the Phillies.
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