One has to wonder where this Florida Marlins squad has been hiding the past month. The Marlins extended their win streak to 4 games in beating the Washington Nationals 4-2 Saturday evening, and in so doing set another record and got closer to setting another.

Josh Johnson pitched 6 strong innings giving up 6 hits and 2ER while getting 9Ks. Johnson has been on fire since returning July 10th from Tommy John Surgery. Johnson has stifled opposing batters allowing 3ERs or less in 11 of his 12 starts this season and improved his record tonight to 5-1. Matt Lindstrom pitched a scoreless 9th inning to earn his 4th save in 5 opportunities.

As for the record, in the 2nd inning Hanley Ramirez hit his 30th homerun of the season making the Marlins infield trio of Dan Uggla (30), Mike Jacobs (32), and Hanley Ramirez (30) the 2nd infield trio ever to hit 30 HRs each in a season. In 2001 the Oakland Athletics infield trio of Jason Giambi (38), Eric Chavez (32), and Miguel Tejada (31) were the first trio ever to accomplish the feat.

More importantly, the Marlins are on the verge of having 4 infielders hit at least 30 HRs each in a single season. In the 1st inning Jorge Cantu knocked his 26th HR of the season into the seats to give the Marlins the lead early. Cantu has 14 games left this season to get 4 more HRs, here’s hoping he can get there!

Tonight was further proof that the Marlins have a solid infield established and they need to do what they can in the offseason to keep Cantu, Jacobs, and Uggla to continue playing alongside of Hanley Ramirez. Yes, they are each prone to errors, but as evidence by the number of homeruns they are more than capable of making up for defensive lapses by putting up runs. The Marlins need to focus on improving their starting rotation and more importantly the bullpen. The Marlins clearly have a solid 1-2 punch with Ricky Nolasco and Josh Johnson, the question is can Anibal Sanchez ever regain his form, can Scott Olsen be consistent over a full season, and will Chris Volstad continue to blossom? The bullpen is a bigger mess and needs to be addressed first. Keep the infield nucleus intact and build a team around them.