The Phillies face their biggest series of the young season this weekend as they square off against the division leading Florida Marlins at Citizen’s Bank Park. The Phillies sit just a half a game behind the Marlins, and two games ahead of the Atlanta Braves, who start a three game series in Cincinnati tonight.

The Phillies are currently riding a four game win streak in which they have scored a total of 48 runs, including a three game sweep of the reigning NL Champion Colorado Rockies. The recent offensive surge has been led by none other than Chase Utley, who has 3 home runs and 13 RBIs in the last week alone. Struggling slugger Ryan Howard has contributed 7 RBIs of his own, despite hitting only .200.

An unlikely compliment to Utley has been third baseman Pedro Feliz, batting .346 with 8 RBIs over the same stretch. Feliz is batting .265 with 7 home runs and 28 RBIs on the year, but 12 of those RBIs have come over the last two weeks. Feliz has been recently playing at the level the Phillies thought he would when they signed him during this past off-season. Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel has previously said that he believes Feliz is much better than he’s shown so far in his career.

“If you look at his numbers, he comes out at around .250 to .260 in the big leagues,” Manuel said of Feliz, a .252 career hitter before this season. “He has got a better swing than that. I think this guy can hit .280 to .300. I think he can be more productive.”

If the Phillies are going to win the NL East this year, players like Feliz and outfielder Shane Victorino are going to have to step up and contribute.

The Phillies have shown that they can outscore any team in the majors, as they proved over the past four games. The problem that continues to plague the Phillies is consistency. They could very well follow up a twenty run offensive outing with two one run games. In a division with the insanely talented and young Marlins, the always tough Braves, and a New York Mets team that despite their poor start was widely considered to win the NL coming into this season, the Phillies are going to have to work on coming out and being consistent every night. They certainly can’t be expected to win every game or every series, but they need to put themselves in the position to do compete every day.

This weekend will be their first big challenge at overcoming their deficiency in consistency. After running rough shod over the Rockies earlier this week, the Phillies should be able to handle the Marlins this weekend and at least take two out of three. If they win two games this weekend, that would put them in first place, a half game ahead of the Fish and in a prime position to start the Summer stretch of the season.

Tonight’s series opener pits perhaps the Marlins’ best pitcher, Mark Hendrickson (7-2), up against the Phillies most frustrating pitcher, Brett Myers (2-6). Myers has not won a game since throwing a gem back on April 17th against the Houston Astros. Hendrickson, on the other hand, has won three of his last five games, including his previous two starts, sporting a 4.14 ERA.

Tonight’s game, as well as this weekend’s series, is going to be a tough challenge for the Phillies, but one that they can overcome.