J.A. Happ moved to 7-0 on the season with a seven inning shutout over the Florida Marlins Sunday. With the victory, the Phillies moved to 6-0 on the season in Ft. Lauderdale, and 8-0 in the previous eight games.

With two outs and the bases loaded in the second inning, second baseman Chase Utley was hit by a pitch, putting the Phillies up for good. Raul Ibanez followed that up with a two-run double.

Jimmy Rollins doubled in a run in the next inning and Utley would score on a wild pitch in the ninth to make it 5-0.

Happ pitched seven scoreless innings, lowering his NL-rookie leading ERA to 2.68. He allowed just five hits, despite not knowing how he would fare after considerable time off after the All-Star break.

“I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to respond coming off the couple days break,” Happ said. “I had a questionable bullpen [session], but the control was there today, for the most part.”

There can be little doubt anymore that Happ is a legitimate major league starter. What makes him so good? His ability to throw downhill and a deceptive velocity, says manager Charlie Manuel.

“He has great arm speed and his ball has a little velocity,” Manuel said of Happ. “The ball gets up on the hitters. Although he’s throwing 89 or 90 [mph], the ball sneaks up on them. [Hall of Famer] Jim Palmer was like that. He threw downhill and Happ throws downhill all the time. He’s got some movement on his ball.”

The Phillies won for the 12th time in the past 13 games. The winning streak is the team’s longest since they won nine in a row April 30-May 9, 2006. With the sweep, the Phils improved to 29-15 on the road, best in the majors.

The Phillies moved seven games ahead of the Marlins.