John Lannan threw 5.1 innings of five hit ball and the Nationals stroked four home runs to down the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-2 at Nationals Park on Monday. Ian Desmond led off the game with a home run, Michael Morse hit two and Jayson Werth hit one to lead the Nationals’ attack. The Nationals assault was in stark contrast to the problems they’ve been having at the plate over the last two weeks.

All of the Nationals’ homers except for one came in the first inning, and off of Trolley righty Hiroki Kuroda. John Lannan, meanwhile, threw 94 pitches in registering his ninth win against 11 losses. Lannan later said that he was anxious to go deeper into the game, but couldn’t convince Nats’ skipper Davey Johnson to keep him in. “I felt good and I wanted to keep battling,” Lannan said after the win. “But my pitch count was high. It was a hot day. Our bullpen was fresh. I understood why.”

Michael Morse’s two home runs gave him 26 for the year — to go along with 82 RBIs. The first baseman/left fielder is clearly the team’s MVP for 2011, having put together his best season of his late blooming career. Jayson Werth took time to compliment Morse after the win on Monday. “I’m really happy for him,” Werth said. “This game is not easy. We had similar parts of our career as far as the age. I can appreciate it. I think he always had it in him.” Werth’s game is also improving, after a tough 2011 and what has accounted for nearly a year-long slump. Werth hit his 18th home run of the year in the first inning, and notched his 52nd RBI.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: There’s been a changing of the guard in Florida, where the Marlins have struggled not only to put fans into the seats, but to put a good ball club on the field. The Marlins started to unravel after 6-7 fireballer Josh Johnson went out with a shoulder injury and the team cratered during a mid-June losing streak (they lost 18 of 19, and eleven in a row) that saw the rehiring of steady-as-she-goes Jack McKeon . . .

The return of Johnson will help next year, but it’s not likely to be enough. Last night on MLB Network, the irascible Larry Bowa said there had been a “changing of the guard” in Florida. Shortstop Hanley Ramirez “is no longer the face of the franchise,” Bowa said — “it’s Mike Stanton.” That sounds right. Yesterday, Ramirez was told that he will need surgery on his left shoulder . . .

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It’s now official: the Washington Nationals are in one of the worst funks of their 2011 campaign, having lost seven of ten games coming out of the All-Star break. The latest exercise in futility came on Tuesday night, as all aspects of the Nationals’ game came up short against the division rival Florida Marlins, who tamed the flopping Nats by a decisive 11-2 score.

The game got out of hand early, as the normally sparkling Jordan Zimmermann suffered through his second consecutive mediocre start. The young righty gave up six earned runs in 6.2 innings, struggling with his command. But the game was put out of reach by the Marlins, who smacked thirteen hits to back the three hit pitching of Ricky Nolasco and three relievers. Henry Rodriguez, who can’t seem to stay out of trouble, pitched poorly in relief (three hits and five runs in just one-third of an inning), though Sean Burnett, Todd Coffey and Ryan Mattheus remained steady.

Zimmermann admitted to his subpar outing: “It’s one of those games where I need to put it behind me and turn the page,” Zimmermann said following the loss. “The last two innings, I really picked up the tempo. I felt a lot better. I just feel I have to pick up the tempo from the start and do a lot better.”

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: The Nationals swapped two minor league prospects for Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jonny Gomes, in an apparent effort to meet Davey Johnson’s requirement for a right handed bat off the bench. Gomes is a solid hitter who is struggling with a .211 BA and eleven home runs in 256 plate appearances this year. The club game up outfielder Bill Rhinehart and left hander Chris Manno . . .

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The Florida Marlins have one win in 15 games in June, and everyone in Miami is wondering what the hell is wrong. They oughta: the franchise has put together an impressive group, but right now they look a lot like the Hindenburg — they inspire awe, endless comment and even headlines, but just when the applause is about to begin they inexplicably explode. The most recent explosion, heard all the way to Miami, happened last night, when the Marlins dropped a doubleheader in Philadelphia– after leading in the second game into the ninth with only one out to get. Oh, the humanity.

Most baseball commentators view the Fish as just too good to stay down long, waving away their recent troubles by repeating the kind of babble that the otherwise thoughtful Larry Bowa (the former shortstop is now “an on-air personality”) is known for. “They’ll be fine,” he said on MLB Network on Wednesday night. “Listen, they’re a fundamentally sound team.”

Really? Are they?

All of the notional statistics about the team seem to suggest otherwise: Leo Nunez, their celebrated closer, has blown three of his last four save opportunities, their most important pitcher (Josh Johnson) is on the D.L., Hanley Ramirez (just returned from his own stint on the disabled list) is hitting .206, their bench is thin (they recently called up Jose Lopez in an attempt to provide stability at third), celebrated righty Chris Volstad looks like he belongs in Triple-A, and off-season free agent acquisition Javier Vasquez can’t find the strike zone (and sports an atmospheric 7.09 ERA). The Marlins might be a lot of things — but “fundamentally sound” is probably not one of them.

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The Washington Nationals pulled out a much-needed extra innings victory against the Florida Marlins last night in Miami, 3-2. The 10th inning squeaker came on a sacrifice fly by Adam LaRoche in the top of the game’s final frame that scored Jayson Werth from third. The Nationals, who almost always struggle in Miami, are now 2-2 on the year against the Marlins. The victory was sealed by the Nats’ bullpen in the bottom of the 10th, when Sean Burnett relieved Drew Storen and retired Chris Coghlan on one pitch with men on second and third.

The Nationals-Marlins tilt reflected Friday’s pitching-dominant match-ups throughout the majors. Jordan Zimmermann pitched beautifully through six complete innings, holding the Marlins to two runs on five hits — and striking out six. Zimmermann was particularly effective in the second inning, when he struck out the side on nine pitches, all of them strikes. The Nats continued to struggle at the plate, or perhaps Ricky Nalasco was on his game: the Marlins’ righty struck out eleven, bringing the total number of strikeouts for the game to 30.

The win in Miami gave the Nats a lift after their pummeling in Philadelphia, where they were swept. But outside of the win, the story of the night was Tyler Clippard, who came on in relief of Zimmermann in the sixth inning and struck out six batters in a row. Drew Storen pitched the ninth inning, and retired the Marlins in order. “Clippard was his amazing self, and Storen was outstanding, and you almost forget that Zimmermann had a nice ballgame for us,” skipper Riggleman said after the win. “It was just a great team effort. That was a great effort all night. It was a well-played game by both clubs.”

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: Just how good is the Nationals’ bullpen? Drew Storen has saved 100 percent of all games that he’s been called on to save (that’s six for six), with an ERA of 0.51, with a 0.91 WHIP. Tyler Clippard is one of the game’s best set-up men. Only four other relievers have struck out six hitters in a row over the last twenty-five years — with Clippard now one of the game’s best late-inning strikeout kings. He has a 1.29 ERA and is a workhorse, having appeared in fifteen games already this season.

Todd Coffey might be the forgetten guy in the bullpen. After a slow start he’s been incredibly effective: in Philadelphia on Thursday he struck out five, including Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco and John Mayberry, Jr. He has lowered his ERA to 3.72. Sean Burnett, meanwhile, has emerged as one of the league’s most effective lefty specialists — when he’s not closing. Victimized in New York on April 27, Burnett has fought back, vindicating his effectiveness with a one-pitch out last night to register his fourth save. Henry Rodriguez (an electric fastball, with five strikeouts in four innings), Doug Slaten (a lefty specialist) and Brian Broderick (a young, talented work in progress) round out the back seven, which may well be the best relief corps in the game.

Hitting the “Invisi-ball: The 30 strikeout Nationals-Marlins contest seemed par for the course on Friday. In St. Louis, Redbird righty Jaime Garcia flirted with a perfect game through the seventh inning, but had to settle for a two hit, 6-0 shutout of the Brewers. Garcia struck out eight. He’s now 4-0 . . . Out in San Francisco, strikeout expert Ubaldo Jimenez struck out seven in six innings, but just couldn’t come up with a win. Jimenez, the 2011 version, is trying to recover from a rocky (so to speak) start and was in line for the win: until Freddy Sanchez stroked a walk off single in the ninth that scored World Series hero Cody Ross . . . This Colorado-San Francisco thingie could turn into the story of the summer, but only if San Francisco can stay close . . .

But the best game of the night was played in Philadelphia (now didn’t we tell you that, huh? huh? huh?), where Derek Lowe went to the mound against Cliff Lee. The final score (a 5-0 Atlanta victory) tells only a part of the story. Derek Lowe had a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Lee had a weird final line: seven innings, nine hits, three earned runs — and 16 strikeouts. Lee struck out nearly two-thirds of the batters he faced, and lost the game. After the game, Chipper Jones implied that the Braves were lucky, by hitting em where they ain’t. ”It seemed to be all or nothing,” Jones said. “Whenever we put a ball in play, it found a hole.”

Sure, but the story line from our perspective was the pitching of Derek Lowe, who seemed unfazed by either Lee or Philadelphia’s fans. “D-Lowe, he had the invisi-ball tonight,” Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins said after the Atlanta win. “Invisi-ball. Yep. You see it in one place, and when you go to swing, it just wasn’t there.”

This is the kind of pitching staff the Washington Nationals are working for: an imposing and overpowering young right hander with a lights-out fastball, a young kid with a a deep hook and a electric stuff, a veteran righty who knows his way around the league and can provide the stability needed to anchor a young staff — and complementary fourth and fifth starters who can come up with enough wins to put the team into the playoffs. That is to say, it’s just the kind of pitching staff that the Florida Marlins damn near already have. Josh Johnson (a six-foot-seven bundle of intimidation) is Florida’s top fastball hurler, the struggling Chris Volstad (taller than Johnson at 6-8) has a fair hook complemented by a good outside fastball, savvy (though now injured) veteran Ricky Nolasco, Anabal Sanchez (a block of granite compared to Johnson and Volstad), who might well be the most talented pitcher on the team (and the sit-em-on-the-bench winner on Saturday) and then two others: the still-developing Alex Sanabia and (lest we forget), lefty Andrew Miller, who is still learning his trade.

There’s little doubt — the Marlins aren’t there, at least not yet. But the formula they have adopted looks a lot like the one promoted by Mike Rizzo, of drafting young arms and developing them, and then surrounding them with home-grown young players (Ryan Zimmerman) and the odd here-or-there free agent boppers (Adam Dunn). And for Florida it’s worked, despite their struggles to find a consistency that would translate into a division championship — and despite the spate of August aches and pains that have taken them out of the race to the flag. It’s true: the combination of Johnson, Nalasco, Sanchez, Volstad and Miller, looks pretty good to a team like the Mets or Brewers who are struggling to find starting pitching, and have only a handful of arms  in the minor leagues.That’s not true for the Marlins, whose pitching staff is the envy of nearly everyone in baseball.

Can the Nats successfully mimic the Marlins’ model? Well, they’re trying, and remain confident that in 2012 (or, perhaps, with luck — next year) the team will boast a rotation that provides two top of the rotation fastballers (the Josh Johnson-like Stephen Strasburg — in 2012 — and Jordan Zimmermann), a developing finesse righty (Yunesky Maya) a steady lefty or two (John Lannan and perhaps Scott Olsen), a pair of savvy veteran arms (Jason “I’m back” Marquis and Livan Hernandez) and a welter of kids competing to fill-in-the-blanks: Ross Detwiler, Collin Balester (or even) Ryan Tatusko or (you never know) Tanner Roark — who, since being traded from the Rangers, sports a stellar 2.50 in 36 innings for Harrisburg this year. It’s all speculation, of course, but the Stan Kasten/Mike Rizzo philosophy of drafting young hurlers and then, and only then, surrounding them with needed pieces works. It just takes patience.

The Nats are now three games over .500 following a convincing 7-1 hooking of the Marlins in Florida. The Nats were powered by two Ryan Zimmerman home runs and the ace-like pitching of former Marlin Scott Olsen. Zimmerman, who has been nursing a spate of sore hamstrings, homered in his first and second at bats — going 3-4 with three RBIs in the victory. Marlin hurler Ricky Nolasco, Florida’s most effective front-liner, was lights-out in his two previous starts (against the power hitting Phillies and Rockies), lasted only four innings against the Nats, giving up eight hits and five earned runs. “He got some pitches up. He looked like he wasn’t the Ricky that we’ve seen,” Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said after the game. “He struggled through four innings. Now we move on to his next start.” While Washington has been playing well despite Zimmerman’s semi-rehab on the Nats’ bench, for Washington center fielder Nyjer Morgan, the return of Zimmerman meant even more victories down the road. “We have our horse back,” he said.

Scott Olsen provided the Nats with his second consecutive quality start, pitching six innings of five-hit ball. Olsen’s performance was particularly humbling for the Marlins, his former team. Nolasco had little to say about Olsen’s performance: “He threw well. He’s getting stronger as the year goes on,” said Nolasco. “Good for him. We’ll try to go get ‘em tomorrow. We’ll move on from this one.” But Olsen was upbeat about his performance against his former team. “I’d be lying to you if I said it didn’t mean a little more,” Olsen said. “The effect of being traded has worn off, but it is nice to finally beat them, nice to pitch well against people you played with and you know.” Olsen admitted that he couldn’t throw his slider for a strike in the first innings of the contest, but settled down thereafter, mixing his pitches and depending on a stellar Washington defense.

Sure it’s the off-season, sure there’s a lot of other things to do and yes, there’s not always a lot to report (or comment on), but everytime one of us droogs sits down to write something for CFG, we are stopped cold by the idea that Mike Rizzo’s Big Idea for strengthening the Nats’ front four includes setting out hook and bait for Florida Marlins right hander Ricky Nolasco.  It’s not that Carlos Enrique is such a bad pitcher — it’s just that he’s not what Nats fans had in mind for an off-season upgrade of baseball’s worst starting rotation. Once upon a time, the list for a rotation make-over included the possibility of signing John Lackey or Jon Garland. Those were the days: “We don’t think that the free-agent class leads us to [pay big money],” Mike Rizzo told Nats beat reporter Bill Ladson. “I believe the things we need or want the most are out there, and we are going to address it. I don’t see us going after that super free agent like Matt Holliday or Jon Garland. I don’t see us playing on that level. We don’t think it’s a fit for us.”

It’s the last sentence that is bound to send shivers through the upper arms of Nats’ fans: when Mike Rizzo says that something’s not “a fit for us,” what he means to say is: “we’re not going to spend money to improve.” Ladson then opines that Nolasco’s name is being bandied about — which is hardly a surprise since, if you’re a Marlin, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll be traded. This isn’t the first time that Nolasco’s name has been linked to anywhere-but-Miami: Yardbarker says that Nolasco and Jorge Cantu are on the block (as well as Dan Uggla, of course): “Trading Nolasco, who had a terrible first two months of 2009 and returned to form after being sent down to the minors, should net the Marlins some top major league ready prospects. Nolasco pitched better than his 2009 stats indicate, so there should be many teams looking to deal for him.”

Okay, fine. So the Nats line up a trade for Nolasco. What top prospects in their top-notch farm system do they give up to get him? A recent Baseball America ranking of MLB farm systems put the Nats at #26, with this comment:  ”They have the best prospect in the game in No. 1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg, plus solid talents in catcher Derek Norris, right-hander Drew Storen and shortstop Danny Espinosa. Beyond that, though, the Nats have very little help, especially at the upper levels, which is a pity considering the state of the big-league roster.” Who of that bunch would you give up to get Ricky? Derek Norris? Drew Storen? Danny Espinosa? How about: none of the above. It may be, of course, that Rizzo has something up his sleeve that will equal the Nyjer Morgan theft. Or it may be that Rizzo’s veto of signing a “super free agent” (a description he applies to Jon Garland) means that the Nats go into the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis next week with nothing to offer — and come out empty handed.