On The Hill...

(4-3) in 10 starts against Florida in his 7-year career, DC's 30-year-old righty Tim Redding has faced the Marlins 5 times this season, posting a (1-3) record with a 6.15 ERA in 26.1 IP in which he's allowed 27 hits, 25 runs, 18 of them earned, 5 HR's and 12 walks with 27 K's, a 1.48 WHIP and a .255 BAA...Florida right-hander Josh Johnson is undefeated at (2-0) in 3 starts and 1 relief appearance against DC with a 3.15 ERA in 20 IP over his first 4 years. In Johnson's 1 start against Washington this season, he defeated the Nationals, holding them to 6 hits and 2 runs in 6.0 innings while walking 1 and striking out 9 in a 4-2 Marlins' win...

Redding took the loss in that September 13th game, giving up all four runs the Marlins scored in support of Johnson on 5 hits, 2 HR's and 3 walks with 5 K's collected in 6.0 IP on the road in Miami. Florida third baseman Jorge Cantu hit the first HR off Redding in that game, a two-run blast in the first, followed by Hanley Ramirez's second inning shot, also a two-run job, that had the Marlins out to an early 4-0 lead which held up, tarnished only Elijah Dukes' two-run double in the sixth that cut the lead in half and chased Johnson from the game. 

After going (2-2) in 5 August starts, Redding's (1-2) in September with a 5.66 ERA in 20.2 IP, and at (10-10) with a 4.67 ERA and 116 K's in 179.1 IP so far in '08, tonight's start decides whether he's a winning or losing pitcher this time around, or whether he'll end up with one more no-decision, adding the 13th this season in 32 starts...Johnson's only pitched in 13 games this year since returning from Tommy John surgery to make his first start since July 4th of '07 on the 10th of July in 2008. The Marlins are 10-3 with Johnson on the mound since his return to the rotation, and Johnson's (2-1) in September with the Marlins 3-1, though Johnson's ERA has ballooned from 2.38 in 5 August outings in which he was undefeated, at (3-0) to a 4.94 ERA in 23.2 IP in the last three weeks... 

Nationals' #'s Against Josh Johnson...

Elijah Dukes - 1 for 3, .333 AVG, 1 2B, 2 RBI's. 

Ryan Langerhans - 3 for 7, .429 AVG, 1 2B, 2 RBI's. 

Ryan Zimmerman - 2 for 6, .333 AVG, 1 RBI. 

Pinch Hittin' Pete Orr - 4 for 6, .667 AVG, 2 SB.

Redding vs Florida...

Alfredo "The Amazing" Amezaga - 2 for 6, .333 AVG, 1 2B, 2 RBI's. 

Jorge Cantu - 3 for 11, .273 AVG, 1 HR, 4 RBI's. 

Luis Gonzalez - 5 for 20, .250 AVG, 1 HR, 3 RBI's. 

Jeremy Hermida - 5 for 12, .417 AVG, 3 2B, 3 RBI's. 

Hanley Ramirez - 5 for 11, .455 AVG, 2 2B, 2 HR's, 6 RBI's. 

Josh Willingham - 5 for 12, 2 HR, 4 RBI's. 

For A Florida-Based Perspective On The Weekend Series, check out the SBN's Marlins' blog:

FishStripes

Don't Forget To...

Check the NatCast if you're heading to Nationals Park...

The NL East and the NL Wild Card are destined to come down to this last weekend with the Nationals/Phillies and Mets/Marlins once again meeting in the final three of one-sixty-two with NY trailing Philadelphia by 1.5 games before play tonight in the NL East and up just 1.0 game on Milwaukee in the Wild Card race, with the Marlins eliminated from contention following last night's loss to DC and the Nationals in need of wins in four of the next five if they're to avoid triple-digit losses for the 2008 season. Who's Watching The Nationals? Who's Watching The Scoreboard? Who's Watching The Nationals?