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.