While the Florida Marlins did not make the most of their opportunity against the New York Mets this week, they did do enough to keep the race in the NL East tight and alter the position of the three contenders. With a 7-5 victory last night, the Marlins got themselves within 1 1/2 games of first place, and in so doing knocked the Mets into second place at a 1/2 game back and put the Philadelphia Phillies in first place.

Twice the Marlins showed why they lead the league in come from behind victories, overcoming early Met leads on Monday and Wednesday to win both games. With the NL Wild Card almost certainly going to an NL Central team, it will be crucial for the Marlins to beat the Mets and Phillies when they face them. After a 4 game set with the Colorado Rockies, the Marlins travel next week for three games in Philadelphia and three games in New York that will determine the Marlins post-season chances. 18 of the Marlins remaining games are against the Phillies and Mets.

Josh Johnson pitched 6 2/3 effective innings last night to earn his first victory since 2006. The Marlins have won all 4 games Johnson has started for them this season and with Anibal Sanchez making his comeback Thursday against the Colorado Rockies, the Marlins will find out how well they can solve their starting pitching problems in house.

The NL East race, and the Marlins playoff chances, are likely to come down to the last weekend of the season. Just in case you were wondering, the Marlins finish the regular season with a three game set at home against the Mets.

With the trade deadline fast approaching, the fact that no news has come from the Marlins is good news. In this case, no move can be considered a good move, given the talent available.

The Marlins have two visible holes at the moment, catching and reliable pitching. Neither position has much out there to be offered and going after mediocre players would be wasteful for the Marlins. Brian Fuentes and Jarrod Washburn top the list of names associated with the Marlins in trade talk, neither of whom are worth the risk. Washburn is 5-9 in 118 innings of work this season with a 4.50 ERA. Fuentes is 1-4 with 17 saves this season.

There is no guarantee Washburn would be any better starting than the Marlins hope Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez can be returning from their respective injuries. As for Fuentes, the Rockies would want starting pitching in return, most likely Anibal Sanchez. It would be insanity to further weaken the starting rotation to gain a mediocre reliever.

The Marlins might be best served waiting to see what happens to Ivan Rodriguez in Detroit, wouldn’t it be great to see his name on the waiver wires? The return of Pudge would shore up the catching position and offer some veteran leadership. That wouldn’t be all bad, look what his veteran leadership did last time around!