3 Keys to Phillies Sweeping the Marlins in NL Wild Card Series

The NL East rivalry between the Phillies and Marlins resumes this week when the two square off in the National League Wild Card Series. The winner of this best-of-3 series will advance to play the Braves in the Division Series, while the loser goes home.

Fresh off winning the NL pennant last year, Philadelphia finished 5.5 games ahead of Miami in the standings this year and is clearly the better team. With any luck, the Phillies will make quick work of the Marlins and sweep the series, especially with the first two games at home.

That said, here are three reasons why Philly will sweep Miami this week.

3 Reasons Phillies Will Sweep Marlins

1. Philadelphia's Offense is MUCH Better

If you want to find the biggest disparity in this matchup, look no further than the starting lineups.

Philadelphia's was one of the best in baseball this year, ranking near the top of the NL in virtually every category. With a deep, potent and powerful lineup, the Phillies scored 796 runs this season, averaging 4.91 runs per game and proving to be an absolute nightmare for opposing pitchers.

Philadelphia's offense only got better as the season progressed, too, averaging a whopping 5.75 runs per game from Aug. 1 on.

Miami's lineup, on the other hand, was one of the weakest in baseball, ranking dead last in the NL in scoring with only 668 runs (4.15 runs per game).

The gulf in power is especially notable, as the Phillies are much better at knocking the ball out of the park. The Marlins only had one player (Jorge Soler) who hit at least 20 homers this season. Philadelphia, on the other hand, had six.

Miami's pitching staff is good, but no pitching staff on earth can contain this lineup. That was proven during their regular-season series, where the Phillies averaged 4.92 runs per game against the Marlins -- nearly identical to their overall mark of 4.91.

At the end of the day, the team that scores the most runs wins, and I have a pretty good feeling that's going to be us.