I feel like everytime I make a post game here, the Marlins lose a few more games than they need to, so I don’t want to make too big a deal here. Get in, get out, hope no one notices and the team keeps going (and hope nobody notices that this is mostly just an excuse for me to go to sleep soon because school is just killing me. Oh, hush!)

Josh Johnson showed why he’s one of the top starters in the majors on Wednesday.

Even without his best stuff, the right-hander was good enough to shut down the St. Louis Cardinals.

Cody Ross had three hits and drove in two runs for Florida, which has won 10 of 14 to stay in the playoff race. Ross extended his hitting streak to 11 games, the longest current streak in the NL, and was 5 for 12 in the series.

• Playoff Race

Florida (78-68) moved within four games of wild card-leading Colorado, which was at San Francisco on Wednesday night.

“This is a resilient team,” Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “They forget bad losses quickly and go on to the next game.”

Johnson (15-4) gave up nine hits but allowed just one run in his 23rd quality start of the season. He struck out five and walked none, improving to 3-1 with a 3.14 ERA in his last five starts.

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“They made good contact with the ball,” Johnson said. “I’d throw good pitches and they’d get hits. It was one of those days where I didn’t walk anybody. That was huge for me today.”

The Cardinals rallied in the ninth. Jason LaRue walked with one out and Mark DeRosa followed with a double to left. Gonzalez then replaced Brian Sanches with closer Leo Nunez, whose wildness got the Marlins into more trouble.

Nunez hit Ryan Ludwick and Albert Pujols to force in a run before coaxing Matt Holliday into a game-ending double play for his 22nd save in 28 opportunities.

“I really focused on throwing the fastball low and away,” said Nunez, who had hit only two batters in his previous 68 innings. “I just wanted to get the ground ball and I got it.”

Central-leading St. Louis fell to 1-5 on its nine-game homestand and lost back-to-back series for the first time since June 22-28 against the New York Mets and Minnesota.

Joel Pineiro (14-11) gave up four runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings for St. Louis.

Eight of Florida’s first 10 batters reached safely. John Baker and Ross had RBI singles and Dan Uggla also drove in a run in the first with a fielder’s choice.

Johnson helped himself in the second, leading off with an infield single before eventually coming home on Jorge Cantu’s sacrifice fly.

Julio Lugo had an RBI single in the sixth for St. Louis, which has scored two or fewer runs in four of its last five losses.

“I’m not worried at all about our offense,” St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. “Good pitching stops good hitting. I really like this club we have.”

I was at work, so I didn’t get to watch it, but I’m bummed Maybin’s slowed down recently. Nice to see JJ pitched well despite not having his best stuff according to the story.
I followed it online and when Pujols came up with the bases juiced down by 4 in the bottom of the ninth, I almost knew what was coming. Hitting him might have been the best thing Nunez has done in weeks.

Josh Johnson wins the award, but like I said, don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to ruin the winning mood.

@

The Florida Marlins (61-54, 4.5 GB NL East, 3 GB WC) look to keep things rolling as they take on the NL wild-card leading Colorado Rockies.  The Marlins continue to play good baseball since the disaster in Washington.  Winning three of four against the Astros, the Marlins are winners of six of their last seven games.  The offense continues to stay red-hot with a club record 10 games in a row with 10 or more hits.  Two of the Marlins hottest bats extended their hitting streaks last night, Chris Coghlan extended his streak to 12, while Hanley Ramirez extended his to 9.

The Colorado Rockies (64-51, 5GB NL West, WC Leaders) head into Land Shark Stadium looking to protect their wild-card lead.  Fresh off a series win against the Pirates, the Rockies hold a 1.5 game lead over the Giants in the wild-card.  The Rockies have done well in the past at Land Shark Stadium, winning eight of their last eleven games.  The Rockies are riding Troy Tulowitzki’s streaky bat, in the past seven days Tulo is 12 for 30 and batting .400, including hitting for the cycle on Monday.

Let’s preview the pitching matchups:

8/14/09, 7:10 PM ET

“Game of the Series”

Jason Hammel, RHP (7-6, 4.66)

Josh Johnson, RHP (11-2, 2.92)

Such an important series, and what better way to get it started with JJ on the mound.  The Fish need to keep winning series, especially from teams ahead of them.  So this will be the game of the series in my opinion.  If the Marlins can win the first game it sets them up nicely for a series win or a possible sweep.  With the bats as hot as they are right now, it would be nice to jump on Hammels early and let JJ do the rest.  Let’s hope its 11 games in a row with 10+ hits.

Rockies: Hammel’s gets the nod tonight for the Rockies.  It hasn’t been easy for Hammel’s lately, in his past seven starts he is sporting a 6.48 ERA and is struggling on keeping his fastball down.  Look for Marlins hitters to square up on some fastballs tonight.

Notable Marlins vs. Hammel:

John Baker - 1-2, HR, RBI, .500

Jorge Cantu - 2-4, 2RBI, .500

Hanley Ramirez - 3-4, HR, 2RBI, .750

Marlins: Ace Josh Johnson takes the mound for the Fish.  JJ went a quality six innings last time out against the Phillies picking up his 11th win.  Last time JJ faced the Rocks he threw eight innings of one run ball to pick up the W.

Notables Rockies vs. Josh Johnson:

Troy Tulowitzski - 2-4, RBI, .500

Brad Hawpe - 2-3, .667

Seth Smith - 2-4, .500

8/15/09, 6:10 PM ET

“No T.V.”

Aaron Cook, RHP (10-4, 3.93)

Rick VandenHurk, RHP (2-1, 4.15)

Rockies:  Cook missed one start due to a hyper-extended big right toe.  Cook is 1-1 with a 3.55 ERA in two starts at Florida.

Marlins: VandenHurk wasn’t very efficient his last time out, but he did earn the win.  VandenHurk made it through five innings of two run ball against the Astros.  After a strong showing by Sean West, VandenHurk will need to pitch well with Anibal Sanchez looming.

8/16/09, 5:05 PM ET

Jorge De La Rosa, LHP (10-8, 4.78)

Chris Volstad, RHP (8-9, 4.71)

Rockies: De La Rosa shut down the Cubs for his 8th win on Monday.  After correcting a few early mistakes, De La Rosa went on to pitch 7 2/3 innings, giving up one run and striking out 11.

Marlins: Volstad will look to put his last start behind him.  The Astros hammered Volstad for six runs over 4 2/3 innings.  Volstad recorded his first career win against the Rockies and has a 4.15 ERA in three career games (two being starts) against them.

I’ve got to get to sleep, so I won’t be waiting for an article to be written on the game, but Marlins win on Dan Uggla’s bases loaded, two out single in the bottom of the 11th.

Up and down game, neither team could keep a lead, but the Marlins managed to come out on top despite Chris Volstad’s shaky start.

The offense got more than 10 hits for the 8th straight game now, the longest such streak in the majors, and you really have to like how this offense has looked since the addition of Nick Johnson.

Emilio Bonifacio damn near won it all in the 10th, but Bo Porter made a terrible decision to send Hermida and the throw beat him by about 20 feet. And yet, the Marlins actually might have gotten screwed on that, as Hermida’s foot got on the plate before Pudge got the tag on. Glad that one didn’t come back to bite them.

49 games left, 28 to get to 88, which is the bare minimum for a wild card since 2003. Still keeping a closer watch on the division at this point. Phillies win in extras as Kevin Gregg (GREEEEEEEGG) blew the game for the Cubs, so the Fish are still 3.5 back. 2.5 back in the Wild Card, though Colorado is currently losing so they could be two back by tonight. Would love to have the opportunity to jump ahead of the Rockies this weekend, so take care of the Stros in the next two.

In a season of big streaks, the Florida Marlins are suddenly back in the hunt in the NL East.

Rick VandenHurk pitched five effective innings, five Florida players had at least one RBI and the Marlins beat the Houston Astros 8-6 on Monday night for their fourth straight win.

“It was nice to come out and not be flat,” Marlins catcher John Baker said, referring to the Marlins’ first game since a three-game sweep at Philadelphia.

Baker had two RBI, and NL batting leader Hanley Ramirez had two singles and an RBI to help chase starter Brian Moehler (7-8) after five innings.

Florida moved within 3½ games of idle Philadelphia for the NL East lead.

VandenHurk (2-1) struck out four and allowed two runs and five hits.

“It wasn’t feeling like a good outing early on, but we scored some runs and it allowed me to keep attacking,” VandenHurk said.

Excellent overall win. Vandenhurk wasn’t stellar, but he did enough, and the offense gave him an early cushion to work with by scoring 4 in the first.

The top of the order for the Marlins has continued to play excellent, with Chris Coghlan getting on base 3 more times, though his streak of multi hit games was stalled at 8; just a new club record.

Each of the club’s first 6 batters reached base at least 2 times, and Cody Ross was the only starting position player to not be on base twice; he only had one walk and a sac fly for an RBI.

Don’t have the ability to post photos, so no nice pretty Craig Counsell Hero of the Game Award picture, but we’ll give it out nonetheless, and tonight John Baker is the big winner!

The Marlins are now just 3.5 back and have a real opportunity to bury a hurting Houston team in the next three games going into a big wild card showdown with Colorado on the weekend. Just 26 of the team’s next 32 games are against teams with a winning record, so this is the prime time for the Marlins to make a run.

The magic number for the Wild Card is between 88-92 wins over the last 7 seasons, so you want to see them win 30 of their next 50, a not insurmountable task, but a tall one.

@

Ouch.  A sweep at the hands of the Nationals definitely hurts.  A series that every Marlins fan looked at on the calendar and thought awesome, easy wins to help us out in the wild card and division.  That didn’t happen, but the Marlins need to leave that series behind if they want to have any chance of making the playoffs.  The Phillies have not been kind to the Marlins this year by winning seven of the nine games played, but there is no better way to get back on track than beating the team that’s ahead of you.  The Marlins come into tonight 55-33, 7GB in the NL East, and 5GB in the wild card race.  The Marlins do catch a small break in missing newly acquired Cliff Lee, but do get to square off against their arch-nemesis Jamie Moyer.  Taking two of three from the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park would be a huge accomplishment for the struggling Marlins.

The Phillies sit atop the NL East with a comfortable seven game lead at 61-45.  The Phillies just completed a three game series with the Rockies where they took two of three.  After a slow start to the season, Jimmy Rollins is starting to heat up.  In the past seven days, Rollins is hitting a robust .385 (10 for 26).  The lefty heavy lineup will look to feast on the well-rested Marlins bullpen and add on to their division lead.

Let’s take a look at the pitching matchups:

8/7/09, 7:35 PM ET

Ricky Nolasco, RHP (7-7, 5.00)

Joe Blanton, RHP (7-5, 4.02)

Marlins: Ricky Nolasco will look to get the club back on track.  Nolasco pitched a dominant seven innings versus the Cubs his last time out.  Nolasco gave up only one run on four hits in the no decision.

Phillies: The “Bulldog” Joe Blanton will take the mound for the Phillies.  Blanton is looking to bounce back after taking the loss his last time out where he gave up two earned runs over seven innings to the Giants.

8/8/09, 7:05 PM ET

Sean West, LHP (3-4, 4.91)

Cole Hamels, LHP (7-6, 4.68)

Marlins: Although it has not been officially announced, it looks like Sean West will be in line to face-off against the Phillies on Saturday.  For West it will be his second stint in the Majors this year after being sent down back on July 11th.  In West’s last three starts for AA Jacksonville, he has thrown 18 innings, giving up 21 hits, seven earned runs, and two walks while striking out 12.

Phillies: Cole Hamels is still looking for consistency this year.  After a string of good starts, Hamels was shellacked for seven runs over five innings.  Before his last outing, Hamels was 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA over three starts.

8/9/09, 1:35 PM ET

“Game of the Series”

Josh Johnson, RHP (10-2, 2.98)

Jamie Moyer, LHP (10-8, 5.55)

Forget about the history.  Everyone else and their mother hit Jamie Moyer except the Marlins.  This needs to change on Sunday when Ace Josh Johnson takes the hill for the Marlins.  The Fish have had much more success against Moyer at Citizens Bank Park and will need to knock him out early.  Just win.

Marlins: Josh Johnson’s last start was bizarre.  After retiring 20 straight Nationals, JJ went into the 8th inning with a 4-0 Marlins lead and continued to load the bases for a Ronnie Belliard bases clearing double.  His streak of 18 games with three earned runs or less has ended with his no decision against Washington.

Notable Phillies vs. Johnson:

Ryan Howard - 7-19, 2B, 2HR, 5RBI, .38

Chase Utley - 5-16, RBI, .313

Jimmy Rollins  - 5-20, 2B, RBI, .250

Phillies: Jamie Freaking Moyer was hit hard against the Rockies his last time out, giving up six earned runs over five innings.

Notable Marlins vs. Moyer:

John Baker - 3-7, 2B, .429

Jorge Cantu - 8-26, 3RBI, 4BB, .308

Wes Helms - 6-13, 2B, 2HR, 5 RBI, .462 (Start me please)

Hanley Ramirez - 12-39, 3B, 4HR, 6RBI, .308

Josh Johnson matched a career high with nine strikeouts and hit a home run, but he was unable to record his 11th victory of the season after struggling in the eighth inning.

The Nationals batted around and scored six runs in that frame to erase a four-run deficit and claim a 6-4 win over the Marlins on Tuesday night at Nationals Park. Adam Dunn poked a two-run home run to the opposite field for the go-ahead runs.

Johnson cruised through the first seven innings, retiring 20 straight batters after giving up a pair of early singles. With a 4-0 lead to start the eighth, he immediately ran into trouble. Johnson yielded three straight singles, and pinch-hitter Ronnie Belliard doubled to score two runs and knock Johnson out of the game.

Nyjer Morgan hit an RBI groundout off lefty Renyel Pinto, cutting the lead to 4-3. Against Kiki Calero, Cristian Guzman followed with a game-tying RBI single past a diving Nick Johnson at first base. Then Dunn struck on a 3-2 pitch from Dan Meyer.

Before Tuesday, the Marlins had won 10 straight games against the Nationals.

Johnson’s homer in the fourth inning — his third this season — tied Dontrelle Willis (2006) and Alex Fernandez (1999) for most home runs in a season by a Marlins pitcher.

Two batters before Johnson, Cody Ross banged his 18th home run of the season.

Man, that’s a tough loss. JJ was cruising after allowing two hits in the first. He retired the next 20 he faced and looked overpowering and well on his way to another CCHOTGA as he also hit his 3rd home of the season.

But then came the 8th, and the wheels came off. This one was a collective loss, as everybody that pitched in the 8th had a hand in the loss, so you can’t blame any one pitcher.

However, Jeremy Hermida did have 9 LOB in the game, including bailing out MacDougal in the 9th when he couldnt’ throw a strike to save his life, and ended the game on a double play, so he’s the obvious recipient of the Scott Olsen Memorial Mugshot Award tonight.

Jeremy Hermida…

Maybe he needs to bring the beard back. It worked for me. Nothing like a slumpbuster beard.

Not defending him in this game, but overall this season he pretty much can only hit with runners on. He had a terrible game, but he’s hit .287/.372/.433/.805 with men on compared to .232/.316/.355/.670 with the bases empty. Yeah, he’s the reason we lost tonight, but he’s been pretty OK with men on. Just sucks that he had to be the goat tonight, because the team really struggled with runners on today.

I’ve defended Hermida since he came up with the team, as his apparently lackadaisical playing style and sometimes terrible defense really gets on his skin, but after 3 straight terrible months from May to now, I’m ready to give up on him. You’re telling me Brett Carroll couldn’t give you the .700 OPS Hermida has? And the defense would be absolutely unquestionably better. I would’ve liked to have seen Hermida moved at the deadline just to get a warm body for him. Have to just hope he can give you something these next two months, but it really doesn’t look good.

The Marlins scored three runs in the ninth to tie the game, but a home run by former Marlins first baseman Derrerk Lee in the 10th led to a 9-8 Cubs victory before 35,811 fans at Land Shark Stadium.

Florida’s three-run rally started when Ronny Paulino hit his first career pinch-hit home run to spark the Marlins with two outs in the ninth. Chris Coghlan followed with a single to left and Nick Johnson singled to put runners on first and third for Emilio Bonifacio. The infielder, who replaced Hanley Ramirez before the fourth inning due to a left knee contusion, delivered with a two-run triple over center fielder Kosuke Fukudome that tied the game at 8.

Lee led off the 10th inning with a solo home run on a 2-0 Leo Nunez fastball that put the Cubs back in front, 9-8, but that was not all the damage he did on Saturday night. The former Marlins first baseman was 4-for-6 with a double, a home run and three RBIs.

The Cubs scored six runs over 1 2/3 innings off Marlins starter Burke Badenhop, but Florida’s relievers shut out Chicago’s offense until Ryan Theriot hit a two-run double with two outs in the top of the ninth. The bullpen was led by Brian Sanches, who threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Badenhop while striking out six and allowing just two hits.

The Marlins began to claw at the six-run deficit by scoring a run in the bottom of the second. Jeremy Hermida’s single drove in a run in the third while Johnson doubled in a run in the fourth. Hermida drove in two more in the fifth, but the Marlins were unable to score again until Paulino homered in the ninth.

Nice to see them battle back, and great to see the life Nick Johnson injected into this lineup, getting on base 5 times, and even nice to see Emilio Bonifacio excel in his emergency fill in duty. He is overexposed as an everyday player but should be more than acceptable in short bursts.

Burke Badenhop is not a starter at the major league level, he didn’t have a clue of where the strike zone was today. He can be great as the 6th man in the pen when Ricky Nolasco gives up 3 early home runs or something, but like Bonifacio, he is overexposed as a starter. I don’t know if it is a mental thing, but he’s got a 3 run lower ERA as a reliever vs as a starter. He did not look good today.

But really nice to see them fight back, doubly so to score three off Gregg, even if Nunez did turn around and hand it to the Cubs in the next inning.

Now it’s time for that dreaded award, the Scott Olsen Mugshot Memorial Award.

Obviously Burke Badenhop’s 1.2 innings, 5 H, 4 BB line has got to be the choice. Derek Lee and Aramis Ramirez looked like they were having batting practice.

Yes, Burke did bad. Burke did very, very bad.

Jorge Cantu was also a candidate for throwing away the first two balls he got at third, but he’ll be given some leeway because he hasn’t played third in a while.

Gotta take tomorrow’s game, Ricky vs. Dempster, and I like the chances of that.

The Marlins rallied late, but Atlanta’s Brian McCann came through with a key three-run homer in the 10th inning to push the Braves past Florida, 6-3, before 14,226 fans at Land Shark Stadium.

McCann drove a 2-2 slider from Luis Ayala into the seats beyond the right-center-field fence. The All-Star catcher had a big day after entering the game 0-for-16 against the Marlins the season. McCann finished 3-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and three RBIs.

Atlanta’s backstop was not the only Braves player to enjoy a big game as starter Javier Vazquez dominated Marlins hitters most of the night. The right-hander tired toward the end of his outing, allowing a leadoff home run to Cody Ross in the eighth inning but still pitched well. Vazquez held Florida to three runs on five hits over 7 1/3 innings while striking out eight.
Ross’ home run in the eighth gave the Marlins momentum as they put together a rally against reliever Mike Gonzalez. With two outs and the bases loaded, Jorge Cantu hit a slow roller to third baseman Chipper Jones that allowed pinch hitter Brett Carroll to score and tie the game at 3.
Florida starter Rick VandenHurk struggled early, giving up two runs in the second on a Casey Kotchman double to center field. The right-hander would settle down the rest of the way, finishing his outing allowing two runs on four hits over six innings while striking out a career-high nine batters.

Not much to say about this one. The opportunities to win were there, they just didn’t seize them, unfortunately. Bases left loaded in the bottom of the 8th in a tie game, and then in the bottom of the 9th, runners on first and second with 1 out and Brett Carroll grounds into the double play. Those hurt.

Gotta give out the Scott Olsen Memorial Mugshot Award, for the single player most responsible for the failings of the ball club on a given night. This is most unfortunate, as thanks to our failings as bloggers during the loss to the Dodgers last weekend, it had been damn near two weeks since the SOMMA had to be given out. I rather liked that streak.

Some might argue Luis Ayala deserves it for giving up the three run bomb to lose it, but he was in a tough spot, with the heart of the Braves order up and nobody available in the pen to save him, so I’ll give him a pass. One might also think Fredi Gonzalez might deserve it for intentionally walking Chipper to get to Brian McCann who hit the home run, but that’s also a tough spot. We’re talking about pitching to Chipper with one on and first open (.968 career OPS vs RHP) or McCann with a potentional DP (.902 career OPS vs RHP) possibility. Can’t fault him for playing the percentages. Just about the only thing I constantly defend Fredi on, even when it doesn’t work out.

No, my choice (Which is all that matters) goes to the man who struck out 3 times and went 0-5 batting in the number two hole.. With runners on first and second, he comes to the plate with 1 out in the bottom of the 8th. Pitcher throws a wild pitch, and the runners advance. If he can just get on base somehow, Hanley will get a chance…

And another strikeout for Emilio Bonifacio, who now ranks 2nd in the race for the lowest OPS in the NL. Don’t stop believin’, Emilio! Marlins’ nation is with you!

Wipe that grin off your face, Boner. You blew it!

At some point, the team will realize Gaby should start a game, right? I mean, I was defending Bonifacio aloud when he had that little month streak where he put together a .730 OPS and looked totally respectable, though outcast as a corner infielder still.

What’s sad is at this point, I’d almost be upset if Bonifacio was demoted or benched. I mean, it’s probably too late. Why make the move now?

Note: I don’t expect him to be demoted at all. We will probably acquire an Arthur Rhodes and that is all.

A poster over at SoFlaMarlins.com probably summed up Emilio Bonifacio as perfectly as anyone ever could, so I’ll close this rant up with that. I didn’t expect this to turn into a Bonifacio rant, but thus is the nature of light night writing, it often veers towards that anyways.

Bonifacio’s like that kid on the little league team who really doesn’t like baseball and would rather play xbox or fill his glove with ants, but his dad’s the coach and his son is going to bat 4th, play short-stop and pitch, and at first everyone was really angry, but then they realized it wasn’t the kids fault he was constantly set up to fail so then everyone just kinda hoped that the kid wouldn’t have to deal with a big moment because everyone but the dad knew how it would turn out and the failure isn’t even met with anger it’s just kinda met with sad silence and everyone is just really uncomfortable with the whole thing.

ESPN’s Peter Gammons just reported on Sportscenter that the Marlins have inquired about what it would take to get Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell.

I am whatever on Bell, but I love the idea of trading for an excellent, young, reasonably priced star first baseman.

Have to think that with the way the Padres seem to be building their farm in Brian Giles’ image, the first guy they would look at is Logan Morrison, who is third in all of baseball in BB% (behind a couple of Friars).

Does Morrison and West get it done? Do you throw in a bullpen arm like Tucker? Is that trade worth it for the Marlins.

You have to assume this means Cantu moves to third, effectively replacing Bonifacio with Gonzalez. That might be the biggest upgrade any team could make at the deadline.

Very interesting, and good to hear they aren’t standing pat, though it wouldn’t be surprising to see an Uggla or Ross move as well so they can offset salary and keep Bonifacio in the lineup.

@

The Marlins are back at Land Shark Stadium after a very successful West Coast road trip in which they went 5-1.  The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Fish as they host the streaking Atlanta Braves.  Both the Marlins and the Braves come into tonight’s game with identical records at 51-48, seven games back in the NL East, and both teams trail the Rockies by three games in the Wild Card.  The Marlins offense showed signs of life in the Dodger series averaging 5.6 runs per game with a team batting average of .287, and will have to continue to stay hot against a great Atlanta rotation. The Marlins rotation will have to stop two particular Atlanta bats who have wreaked havoc against the Marlins, Chipper Jones (.314 BA, .939 OPS) and Matt Diaz (.414 BA, 1.130 OPS). The Marlins are 6-4 in their last 10, and have chopped down three of the six teams that were ahead of them in the Wild Card race.  With trade rumors swirling around the clubhouse, the Fish must stay focused and keep winning games if they plan on staying buyers with just a few days left till the trade deadline expires.

The Braves are one of the hottest teams in the Majors right now with a 15-8 July record, and they can thank Yunel Escobar for that.  Yunel doesn’t get much attention playing in the short stop studded NL East, but his July numbers are hard to ignore. In 65 at bats, he has a .369 BA, .461 OBP, and a 1.123 OPS.  This will be the last three games of the Braves six game road trip, they come into tonight’s series 2-1 thus far after taking the series in Milwaukee.  The Braves pitching staff has been dominant in July with a National League leading ERA of 3.12.

Let’s take a look at the pitching matchups for the series.

7/28/09, 7:10 PM ET

Game of the Series

Jair Jurrjens, RHP (9-7, 2.67)

Ricky Nolasco, RHP (7-7, 5.42)

Another game one ” Game of the Series” for me.  After the off day, I’m curious to see if the Marlins intensity stays the same after leaving Dodger Stadium.  Jair Jurrjens is pitching out of his mind right now and the Marlins will need to bring him back down to earth to pull this win off.  It will be ideal if the Marlins can scratch out a few early runs to support Nolasco, but Jurrjens is the type of pitcher you can get to the 2nd time around in the batting order, teams are hitting .206 against Jurrjens the first time through, and .256 the second time through.  If Nolasco can limit any first inning damage and keep the extra base hits down, he should be in for a much needed quality start for the Marlins to have a chance of taking this game.

Braves: Jair Jurrjens gets the nod for Atlanta.  Jair out-pitched Tim Lincecum his last time out. The right hander threw 7 2/3 innings of one run ball while striking out a season high nine batters in the process.  Jurrjens has won four of his last five game and looks to beat the Marlins for the second time in 2009.  He picked up the win back in May against Florida while throwing seven innings and giving up two earned runs.

Notable Marlin vs. Jurrjens

Hanley Ramirez - 4-12, 3HR, 3RBI, 3B, .333

Dan Uggla - 5-11, 2B, 1RBI, .455

Emilio Bonifacio - 3-7, .429

Cody Ross - 2-5, HR, 3 RBI, .400

Marlins vs. RHP

29-34, 4.4 rpg

Marlins: Nolasco takes the mound after a dominant performance in San Diego his last time out.  Ricky limited the Padres to just two hits, no earned runs, while striking out 10.  Ricky had ran into a two game hiccup before facing the lackluster Padre offense, so this outing should be a little more telling as to where he stands.  Atlanta has not been kind to Nolasco in the past, his career numbers are 1-4 with a 5.18 ERA.

Notable Braves vs. Nolasco (yikes)

Brian Mcann - 7-19, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .368

Chipper Jones - 9-16, 3 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBI, .563

Yunel Escobar - 5-10, 3 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .500

Matt Diaz - 3-8, 2B, .375

Braves vs. RHP

31-33, 3.9 rpg

7/29/09, 7:10 PM ET

Kenshin Kawakami, RHP (5-7, 4.04)

Josh Johnson, RHP (9-2, 2.80)

Braves: Kenshin Kawakami went five innings his last time out, giving up one earned run with three walks and a strike out.  He took the loss in his last game against the Marlins, he pitched six innings while giving up four earned runs.

Marlins: Johnson will look to keep things rolling after limiting the potent Dodgers offense to just three earned runs over seven innings, improving his record to 9-2.  One word comes to mind when talking about Josh Johnson, dependable, he has yet to allow more than three earned runs in 17 straight games.  Johnson looks to make it 18 games in a row on Wednesday, he is 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA lifetime against the Braves.

7/30/09, 7:10 PM ET

Javier Vazquez, RHP (8-7, 2.98)

Rick VandenHurk, RHP (1-0, 2.45)

Braves: Javier Vazquez had his first bump in the road in a long time.  Vazquez allowed four earned runs over seven innings in Milwaukee, it was his was his first time giving up three plus runs since June 17th against the Reds.  He is 6-6 with a 4.67 ERA in his career against the Marlins.

Marlins: Rick VandenHurk was equally impressive in his second start of 2009.  VandenHurk limited the Dodgers to just one run over five innings on Saturday, but did not factor in the outcome.  VandenHurk has had some memorable games against the Braves in the past, and is 2-0 with a 4.19 ERA.