Last night’s loss to the Atlanta Braves leaves the Florida Marlins’ playoff outlook very bleak. Over the course of the season Marlins’ fans have blamed ownership, the bullpen, or the manager for the Marlins struggles at different points in the season. The past three days however must leave all fans questioning the team itself, the 25 men who call themselves professional baseball players.

Last night the Marlins were bested by an Atlanta Braves pitcher that hadn’t won in his last seven outings, and were finally put away by a three run homer from a player who hadn’t gone deep since August 9th and had 0 hits in his last 15 at bats. The Marlins act as though they don’t care if they get into the playoffs. They return to Miami tonight after a 9 game road trip in which they had the luxury of playing the slumping San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves. Instead of a glorious return, they limp home after losing 2 of 3 to each of those squads and find themselves 6 games back of 1st place with the Mets coming to town tonight.

It would be easy to say Fredi Gonzalez isn’t demanding enough of his players, or hard enough on them. It would be convenient to blame the ownership for not spending more. But the bottom line is, these men are PROFESSIONALS. OK, so they aren’t paid on the level of Alex Rodriguez and so many other superstars, but they are paid more than you or I will ever see to play a GAME! If they want to make it into the playoffs, they should man up and show up to the park everyday. When they face, lets be honest here, terrible teams like Atlanta or Washington, anything but a sweep is unacceptable. It does you no good to get up for only the Phillies and Mets, because if you can’t beat the teams you should you won’t even be in contention to begin with.

As always though, I refuse to count them out. Yes, the Marlins are 6 games out of 1st and have 28 games to play. They get the New York Mets in Miami this weekend, they won’t have to face Johan Santana, and the Mets rotation and bullpen outside of Santana and closer Billy Wagner are awful. Now is the time, time to step up and prove you are men and professionals and get yourselves back in the race. If not, well then maybe we don’t need any of you back next year if you can’t step up when needed.

Wednesday night the big guy took to the mound for the Marlins, and the team cashed in an important victory to move back within 5 1/2 games of 1st place in the NL East. Josh Johnson has proven in the past that he is capable of using his entire 6’7″ 230lb frame to intimidate and dominate opposing batters, he did just that against the Atlanta Braves tonight.

Johnson allowed only 4 hits and 1 ER while striking out 8 in pitching a complete game. All in all it was a good night for the Marlins. The bats were consistent with Dan Uggla working his way out of his post All Star slump going 2-3 and hitting his 28th homerun of the season. Hanley Ramirez, who has been struggling with runners in scoring position, solidified the Marlins 4-1 victory by driving in two runs in the 5th.

Perhaps most importantly, Johnson’s complete game allowed a weary (and pitiful) bullpen to get a night off. After blowing a 3 run 9th inning lead last night, Gregg et al were allowed to kick back and watch Johnson blow smoke past the Braves batters. The bullpen could learn a thing or two from watching Johnson. In the 8th, with runners on 2nd and 3rd and the Marlins up 3-1, Johnson buckled down and struck out two in a row to retire the side and end the threat. Composure and poise in tight spots are what we need out of the bullpen, not shaky knees and wild pitches. Hope you boys were watching closely in the bullpen.

Regardless of how the Florida Marlins finish this season, miss the playoffs, booted in the first round, or magical run; when the off-season rolls around the Marlins need to make a closing pitcher their TOP priority. Forget signing Dan Uggla long term, forget Mike Jacobs, forget Jorge Cantu, the core piece of every teams bullpen is a closer who can come out night after night and do exactly what you pay him to do, dominate.

Kevin Gregg is not that guy, and can’t be that guy for the Marlins. Not now, not in the future. Lets briefly compare him with some of the more prestigious closers in the league. Gregg is 10th in the majors with 29 saves this season, however, among the top 10 closers he has the MOST walks and the FEWEST strike outs. Kevin Gregg is effective (when he’s effective I should say) because he has a great fastball and a very good slider, his problem however is that very good slider. Gregg doesn’t have the greatest control on that slider, sometimes it makes batters look ridiculous, other times it lands in the dirt before the mound resulting in wild pitches.

Kevin Gregg is just too inconsistent, the Marlins’ loss on Tuesday night showed it. He had a 9-6 lead going into the bottom of the 9th and absolutely imploded giving up 5 hits, walking 1, and giving up 4 ER and the game. For a team needing a win to get them rolling and keep the pace, a loss instead to one of baseball’s worst teams could be the straw that breaks Florida’s back and ends their wonderful season.

Bottom line, this season’s issues, particularly in the stretch run have been the bullpen. Sure, the starting pitching hasn’t been stellar, but they’ve more often than not kept their team in the game and 7 out of 10 games the bats are hot enough to offset it. The bats and the starters can’t do anything to prevent the bullpen from imploding and losing a game.

In the end, you just never know which Kevin Gregg will grace the mound each night, thats why he’s not really a top 10 closer despite the ranking. When Fransisco Rodriguez, Joe Nathan, Jonathon Papelbon, and Mariano Rivera come on to close a game for their team, the other team is shaking, not the closer’s manager. Those teams know their closer will get it done, when he doesn’t its just the world evening out because nobody is perfect, even those men make mistakes once in a blue moon. When Gregg takes the mound we all have to hold our breath, well I’m turning purple, we need a new closer.

There will never be a more opportune time for the Marlins to strike at the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets than in the next two weeks. The ease of schedule pendulum swings back in favor of the Marlins over the course of the next two weeks, giving them the perfect opportunity to get within 2-3 games of 1st place in the NL East.

Over the next two weeks the Florida Marlins have 6 games (3 home, 3 road) against the Atlanta Braves, 3 at home against the Mets, and 3 on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals. Not as easy as the Mets and Phillies had it the past two weeks, however, the Mets and Phillies now have significantly more difficult competition facing them. In the next two weeks the Mets have 1 game at home versus the Houston Astros, 3 in Miami against the Marlins, 3 games at Milwaukee, and 6 games (3 home, 3 road) against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets and Phillies may do enough damage to each other to assist the Marlins even if they falter a little.

The next two weeks become even more important when you look at the final 19 games for each team. The Mets by far have the biggest cake walk, with 12 of their final 19 games against the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals. The Phillies have 9 of their final 19 against those same two clubs. The Marlins have only 6 games, all against the Washington Nationals.

The Braves and Nationals are a combined 103-159, 56 games BELOW .500 and have terrible records against the rest of the NL East. The Marlins on the other hand have the 2nd best record in the division, against the other teams in the division, the Mets are two games better.

The window is open starting today. The Marlins get a day off to travel to Atlanta while the Phillies finish a 4 game set with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Mets finish a 4 game set with the Houston Astros. By this time tomorrow, the Marlins (without playing a game) could be back within 4 games of 1st place, and all the chips in front of them to make their run.

If you didn’t believe me after last weeks outing, perhaps you’ll believe now. The Marlins took on the Arizona Diamondbacks in game 3 of their series Sunday afternoon and Ricky Nolasco mowed down another team of batters in route to a Florida victory.

Nolasco went 7 1/3 innings Sunday afternoon allowing only 2 hits, 3 ER, and struck out 10 Arizona batters. Nolasco is making himself fearsome at the plate as well as on the mound, knocking an RBI double to deep right to drive in a run in the top of the 2nd inning. Florida bats woke up and gave Nolasco all the run support he needed. Josh Willingham was 3-4 with a HR and 2 RBIs. Kevin Gregg kept his recent string of positive outings going. Though a little shaky, he still nailed down the save in the bottom of the 9th for his 29th as the Marlins won 5-2.

Nolasco is really stepping forward as the dominating ace of this staff, something every team needs in order to make a playoff run. In the month of August Nolasco has stepped up his game to help his team’s drive for the playoffs. He’s 3-1 in 5 starts with 43 Ks and only 3BBs. If the Marlins can make the postseason, Nolasco will for sure be their greatest asset.

Speaking of the Marlins’ postseason aspirations, the New York Mets lost today 6-4 to the Houston Astros. That puts the Fish 5 games out of 1st place, can you feel it? Do you believe yet?

For all the mental errors, poor pitching, and lifeless batting that has at different times plagued the Florida Marlins, one thing remains a constant. Lady Luck appears to have an interest in seeing the Marlins at least make a playoff run, if not make it into the playoffs. At seasons end, if the Marlins are preparing for October baseball, they may need to send some champagne to the Houston Astros and any other club that beats the New York Mets and keeps the Marlins’ hopes alive.

After an outing Saturday evening that is best summed up as pathetic, the Marlins are still only 6 games out of first place. The Marlins got 3, yes thats right, 3 hits in their 7-1 defeat to the Arizona Diamondbacks Saturday night. Hanley Ramirez’s homerun was the only highlight for the lifeless Marlins.

Again Marlins fans find themselves breathing a collective sigh of relief. An effort to pull closer was wasted, but at the same time the Marlins refuse to go away in this chase (even if it means other teams getting the work done for them) and find themselves no further out than they were this morning. One thing is for sure, at some point the Marlins are going to have to take care of business themselves, like next weekend when they welcome the New York Mets to Miami for 3 games.

Friday evening a different Florida Marlins team apparently took the field, because it clearly couldn’t have been the same team that took the field the final two times in San Francisco. The Marlins were in Phoenix to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks and though they don’t have to face the D-Backs best pitchers in Dan Haren and Brandon Webb. They still had to face future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson Friday evening.

It doesn’t seem possible that a Marlins team that lost the last two games to the awful Giants, could survive the 13 strike out performance that Randy Johnson put on, but they did! Johnson pitched 7 innings, struck out 13 Marlins’ batters, and left with a 4-3 lead. The Marlins didn’t let that last as they put up 2 runs in the top of the 8th to go ahead 5-4. The Marlins hung on, Kevin Gregg pitched a perfect 9th and the Marlins snapped their current slump.

While the Marlins didn’t move forward in the standings, they didn’t fall any farther behind the Mets and Phillies. The Marlins begin play Saturday 6 games behind the Mets for first and a mountain to climb in order to get to the top of the division. Lets not fillet the Fish yet though, lots of time left in the season and PLENTY of opportunities to straighten up and take the division.

It is beginning to seem as though the Marlins are just not mentally into their season anymore. With the playoff window still open, albeit only a crack, the Marlins needed a win against the hapless Giants today to take 2 of 3 and try to close the gap on the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. Instead they got Josh Johnson’s first poor performance of the season, were plagued by mental errors, and lost on a wild pitch.

While not as effective as his previous 6 starts this season, Josh Johnson’s worst start wasn’t a bad start. He left after 6 innings having surrendered 3 runs and his team was trailing 3-2. The Marlins would eventually tie the game and keep hope alive of winning the series against the Giants. Then of course, it was the bullpen’s turn to try and not blow a game for once. Kevin Gregg came on for the 9th and was once again shaky and in the end got tagged for the loss. Gregg walked the leadoff man in the 9th and saw him advance to 2nd on a steal and 3rd after a deep sacrifice fly. After intentionally walking Bengie Molina, Gregg uncorked a wild pitch that saw the winning run cross the plate standing up and the Giants won 4-3.

The Marlins’ efforts lately have looked more like a comedy of errors (unless of course you are a Marlins fan) than baseball at the Major League level. Nothing seems to go right for this team other than the fact that from time to time when the Mets or Phillies could really bury the Marlins by winning when the Fish lose, they don’t. Despite a terrible record over the past two weeks, the Marlins sit after tonights action 6 games out of first place, 3 1/2 games out of second.

Manager Fredi Gonzalez needs to focus this team, remind them they are not out of it yet. There is still a full month of baseball to be played, still opportunities against the teams they are chasing and opportunities against downright terrible teams (Atlanta and Washington). The Fish need to get focused on whats at stake, clean up the errors (even a little, c’mon boys, this is the Major Leagues), and come to the park every night with 100% focus on the game and task at hand.

For the Fish, it must begin anew Friday night in Phoenix. Sweeping the Diamondbacks can boost their confidence, and they have the great fortune of not having to face either Dan Haren or Brandon “Cy Young” Webb during the series. Luck may still be on their side, they just have to believe!

If the Marlins miss the playoffs, fans and players alike can look to Wednesday nights game against the San Francisco Giants and say “thats where it ended”. Already 4 games behind the Mets heading in, and knowing that the Mets and Phillies had won, all the Marlins needed to do was beat the San Francisco Giants. The Giants, 18 games below .500, should not have been that difficult for the Marlins to sweep, and they NEEDED to do so to stay in the race. Especially when you consider that the Phillies and Mets are playing cupcakes this week in the form of the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals.

And when it mattered most, the Marlins again just couldn’t put together a full game effort from all parties. Scott Olsen had another less than stellar outing, going 6 innings while giving up 9 hits and 4 ER. Olsen blew a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 6th allowing 3 ER giving the Giants a 4-2 lead. Even still it seemed the Marlins could win, trailing 5-2 in the top of the 9th inning, John Baker hit a pinch hit 3R – HR to tie the game. It was false hope unfortunately, Lindstrom couldn’t even go one effective inning as Bengie Molina hit a sac fly in the bottom of the 9th to drive in the winning run for the Giants.

Miracles occur every once in awhile in sports, and at this point that is likely what the Marlins are going to need to overcome the Mets and Phillies to make the playoffs. The Marlins cannot afford any more slip ups, especially when they face teams nearly 20 games below .500. Their schedule still includes 12 games combined against the Mets and Phillies, they get 12 games combined as well against the lowly Braves and Nationals. They still have a chance, but they need to come together as a team and decide what they want to make of their season. Comebacks aren’t unheard of, especially in this division as the Phillies erased a 7 game Mets lead last year to steal the division and make the playoffs.

Florida Marlins’ fans can breath a sigh of relief, for tonight at least. As the team embarked on its most important road trip of the season so far, the state of the Marlins’ playoff hopes was critical. The Marlins have been slumping as of late and came into Tuesday evening 3 games behind 2nd place Philadelphia and 4 games behind 1st place New York. So what do you do to bust out of a slump? Send your ace to the mound and let him start hurling heat.

Ricky Nolasco did just that for the Marlins Tuesday night against the San Francisco Giants, and then some. Nolasco pitched and batted the Marlins past the Giants, winning 6-0. Nolasco pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only 2 hits and striking out 11. Just to make sure his efforts weren’t wasted, he got in on the act offensively as well. In the top of the 5th inning, with the Marlins already ahead 3-0, Nolasco stepped to the plate and blew the game open. With runners on 1st and 3rd Nolasco knocked a double to deep left driving in both runners and effectively solidifying the win.

While the returns of Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez, and the emergence of Chris Volstad have strengthened the rotation and given the Marlins a fighting chance, the team would not have been in contention were it not for the efforts of Ricky Nolasco over the course of the season. He has emerged as the ace of the staff in emphatic fashion. From May 3 to July 7th Nolasco kept the Fighting Fish in the race, starting 13 games and compiling a 9-2 record in the process. He leads the rotation in all the crucial categories, innings pitched, wins, and ERA.

Make no mistake, tonights game was important. When you are 4 games out of first place and the competition isn’t showing signs of slowing down you need to keep pace. A loss tonight and you could start lowering the Marlins’ coffin into the ground. Nolasco stepped up and did what aces do, shut down the opponent and gave his team the perfect start to a crucial road trip.