After going 4-4 during their recent road trip, the Washington Nationals return home for a six game set against Florida and Arizona. It’ll be a test: tonight the Nats face fireballer and Marlins’ ace Josh Johnson, the Miami nine’s most impressive starter among an otherwise young set of effective pitchers. You might remember that the Marlins started the season hot: with all the commentators oohing and ahhing about how they were the team to beat in the NL East. But as good as they were in April, south Florida’s best were only so-so in May and June. Ricky Nalasco (5.00 ERA) couldn’t seem to get past the fifth inning, Chris Volstad (6-8, 225) was knocked around, and fill-ins Sean West and Andrew Miller were up and down. Only Johnson seemed to be able to win consistently.

But in July the Phish kicked it into a higher gear. Nalasco seemed to have solved his command problems, Andrew Miller and Sean West started producing at the back of the rotation, and Chris Volstad wrestled his ERA to under 4.00.  The result is that the Marlins are now sixth in the NL (13th in the majors) in pitching (ranked by ERA), with the inconsistency that marred their performance in May and June a fading memory. Finally — and perhaps most importantly — Josh Johnson has emerged as one of the NL’s premier hurlers, with a 10-2 record to go along with a 2.87 ERA. As importantly, the team is filled with solid relievers, though Marlins’ skipper Fredi Gonzalez has yet to decide between using Matt Lindstrom to be the team closer, or to stick with the more steady Leo Nunez. The question has sparked somewhat of a debate in Florida, though it’s hard to see why. Lindstrom has great stuff, but he’s wild — Nunez is unexciting, but he’s steadier.

Nats fans know all too well that the Phish recently added Nick Johnson to their line-up. With a high on-base percentage and a good glove at first, he might be the guy who provides the necessary spark for the Marlins to overtake the Phillies in the NL East. It’s not out of the question, though the Marlins have to be scratching their head over why a line-up with big bats has been anything but. That might be about the change. While the rest of the league has focused on getting past shortstop Hanley Ramirez (for good reason), the recent Florida heroes have been Dan Uggla and Cody Ross — the two hit back-to-back come-from-behind homers in the 9th inning against the Cubs on Sunday to seal the team’s most dramatic 2009 walk off knuckle-biter (the Marlins won, 3-2). That the Ross-Uggla tandem might finally be hitting again is good news for the Phish, as both have been struggling of late. The team has had to rely on the bat of Jorge Cantu and a suddenly revived Ross Gload. The Nats take on the Marlins tonight at Nationals Park, with J.D. Martin facing off against the ace of the Florida staff. The Marlins have won ten games in a row against the Nationals.