The Florida Marlins trail the Atlanta Braves by 1 1/2 games as they open a three game series in Georgia. It's a battle of undefeated pitchers tonight as Anibal Sanchez visits Chuck James. (Did you ever notice how lots of comic book heroes have two first names? Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, Peter Parker.) It seems you need to homer off James to score a run. Eleven of the sixteen runs he's allowed were driven in homers this season. Sanchez is coming off consecutive starts of seven shutout innings. The Astros and Nationals garnered just three hits in those two games.

Minnesota tries to edge closer to the Wild Card in the pitching matchup of the day. Johan Santana faces Jose Contreras in Chicago. Santana is just shutting down right-handed batters, as they are hitting .205 against the lefty with a .243 OBA. After going 3-0 with a 6.21 ERA in June, Contreras is putting up a much more respectable 3.04 ERA in July. Unfortunately, the team support isn't there as that's been good for just a 1-2 record.

Adam Eaton returns from the disabled list to make his first start for the Texas Rangers. He'll host Mike Mussina. The strength of both pitchers is keeping men off base via the walk. That will be tough for Eaton against a selective New York lineup.

Enjoy!