With a 10th inning game-winning home run by Carlos Ruiz, the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Florida Marlins and became Major League Baseball’s hottest team. After an unexpectedly slow start to the season, the Phillies have turned their fortunes around and are making a strong push for a playoff berth and not even a slew of midseason injuries seem to be slowing them down. In fact, as more players go down, the team as a whole appears to become strong in subsequent games.

Going into Friday’s series start against the Mets, the Phillies had won four in a row and 12 of their last 14. They are just two games back of the AL East leading Atlanta Braves and one and a half behind San Francisco for the wild card. This weekend series against the .500 Mets can be a big turning point if they can take two of three from the New Yorkers or possibly even sweep them.

The Phillies have been beat up lately. They have five guys on the 15-day disabled list, including four key guys in Ryan Howard, Mike Sweeney, Chase Utley and Shane Victorino. This season’s heartwarming story was 47-year-old pitcher Jamie Moyer until an elbow strain ended his campaign. But the addition of Roy Oswalt as his replacement certainly was not a step back for the Phillies. Many of their injured key players will likely be back in the lineup in the next two to three weeks too.

The Phillies have been to the World Series two seasons in a row and may not be far off from doing it again. After beating Tampa Bay in 2008 and dropping to the Yankees in 2009, the Phillies find themselves right in the thick of the playoff race once more. As soon as guys like Howard and Utley rejoin the likes of Oswalt and Roy Halladay, the Phillies will be the team to watch out for once again.