After taking two trips to South Florida to play the Marlins already this season, the Arizona Diamondbacks get to play host to the Fish this weekend. Florida was not a very accomodating host to the Diamondbacks, sweeping a 3-game set in May, and taking two out of three in June. Now, the new look Diamondbacks will try to return the favor. The Marlins weren’t expected to do anything this season, especially after dealing away two stars in Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to Detroit. But here it is late August, and the Marlins are still in the thick of the NL East race, trailing the Mets by 6 games. The series also marks the return of Luis Gonzalez for his first visit to Chase Field as a member of the Marlins.

Here’s a closer look at both teams…

Florida Marlins (65-63, 3rd place in NL East, 6 games behind New York Mets)

Manager: Fredi Gonzalez (2nd year with Marlins, 136-154)

Offensive Leaders:

AVG: Hanley Ramirez, .297

Runs: Hanley Ramirez, 96

Hits: Hanley Ramirez, 145

HR: Hanley Ramirez & Dan Uggla, 27

RBI: Dan Uggla, 71

SB: Hanley Ramirez, 29

Pitching Leaders:

INN: Ricky Nolasco, 164 1/3

Wins: Ricky Nolasco, 12

ERA: Ricky Nolasco, 3.67

Strikeouts: Ricky Nolasco, 137

Saves: Kevin Gregg

Bottom Line:Despite losing slugger Cabrera in the offseason, the Marlins still rank 2nd in the National League in home runs with 167. Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla are developing into the most dangerous offensive threats at their respective positions. It’s not often you see two middle infielders with 27 homers in August. Third baseman Jorge Cantu, whose career hid the skids after a very promising 2005 season in Tampa Bay has found a new home in Miami. He has 22 homers and is hitting .281. Former D-Back Luis Gonzalez, who will turn 41 in a couple of weeks, has hit .262 with 7 homers and 39 rbis in a platoon situation in the outfield. The Marlins also signed veteran catcher Paul LoDuca, the former Sun Devil and Apollo Hawk, to shore up the catcher position.

The pitching staff has been led by Ricky Nolasco, who is 12-9 this season, and 2-0 against the Diamondbacks. Nolasco has allowed only 2 runs in 15 innings against Arizona this season. He will start Sunday afternoon’s game for Florida. The Fish also recently got right hander Anibal Sanchez back from a prolonged injury. Sanchez did no-hit the Diamondbacks in 2006, but has made only 14 starts since then. He’ll go in the opener tonight against Randy Johnson. Kevin Gregg has been effective as the closer, converting 27 of 34 save opportunities with a 2.81 ERA.

Florida’s Pitchers vs. Arizona

Tonight: Anibal Sanchez (2008: 2-2, 3.52 ERA; career vs. Diamondbacks: 1-0, 0.00 ERA)

Saturday: Chris Volstad (2008: 4-2, 3.02 ERA; career vs. Diamondbacks: 0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Sunday: Ricky Nolasco (2008: 12-9, 3.67 ERA; career vs. Diamondbacks: 3-0, 2.01 ERA)

Arizona Diamondbacks (67-60, 1st place in NL West, 2 games ahead of Los Angeles)

Manager: Bob Melvin (4th year with Diamondbacks, 310-304)

Offensive Leaders:

AVG: Conor Jackson & Orlando Hudson, .305

Runs: Mark Reynolds, 77

Hits: Stephen Drew, 133

HR: Mark Reynolds, 24

RBI: Mark Reynolds, 85

SB: Chris Young, 10

Pitching Leaders:

INN: Brandon Webb, 184

Wins: Brandon Webb, 19

ERA: Brandon Webb, 2.74

Strikeouts: Dan Haren, 160

Saves: Brandon Lyon, 25

Bottom Line: With the Diamondbacks 3-game sweep of the Padres, they have now swept every team in their division at least once. Brandon Webb and Dan Haren both won starts in the San Diego series, so you know that Florida has got to be breathing easy that they are missing both aces in this series. Randy Johnson, however, is opening the series tonight, and he has been brilliant as of late. Johnson’s ERA in the month of August is a scant 2.39. He has suffered 2 losses in August, but both times the Diamondbacks were shutout victims. The oldest adage in baseball is, if you don’t score, you can’t win. Johnson is also a sterling 8-1 lifetime vs. Florida.

Arizona’s pitchers vs. Florida:

Tonight: Randy Johnson (2008: 10-9, 4.16 ERA; career vs. Marlins: 8-1, 1.82 ERA)

Saturday: Yusmeiro Petit (2008: 2-3, 3.02 ERA; career vs. Marlins: 0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Sunday: Doug Davis (2008: 5-7, 4.68 ERA; career vs. Marlins: 2-1, 4.55 ERA)

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