If the Philadelphia Phillies are going to go deep into October, they know they'll need to lean heavily on Cristopher Sanchez.

Sanchez takes the mound for a key postseason tuneup Tuesday when the Phillies welcome the Miami Marlins to town for the opener of a three-game set.

Sanchez (13-5, 2.66 ERA) is headed for a high finish in the National League Cy Young Award race, but more importantly, he needs to be the ace of the Philadelphia rotation with Zack Wheeler out for the season.

The Phillies juggled their rotation to get Sanchez on the mound Tuesday to create room for an additional potential start Sunday in the regular-season finale if that game has stakes for the team's postseason seed. Otherwise, this timing lines Sanchez up to start the team's first playoff game.

"We can manipulate a

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