Washington @ Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 18, 2011 ) Florida 3, Washington 4

THE STORY: There haven't been too many reasons for the Florida Marlins to smile this season. The cellar-dwelling Marlins do have reason for optimism Monday, however, when they send righthander Anibal Sanchez to the mound in the opener of the season-ending three-game series against the visiting Washington Nationals. Sanchez has won all seven career decisions versus the Nationals, including two this season. Rookie lefthander Tommy Milone will provide the opposition for Washington, which has won all four of his starts and 12 of its last 15 games overall.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, MASN2 (Washington), FSFL (Florida)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals LH Tommy Milone (1-0, 3.32 ERA) vs. Marlins RH Anibal Sanchez (8-9, 3.67 ERA)

Since being called up from Triple-A Syracuse, Milone has shown a great deal of promise. The Nationals' minor league pitcher of the year in 2010 tossed six scoreless innings in his last outing Tuesday, but settled for a no-decision against the Philadelphia Phillies. The 24-year-old scattered four hits and didn't walk a batter for the third time in his four major-league outings.

Sanchez may be riding a two-game losing skid, but he's been done in by a lack of run support. The 27-year-old righthander allowed three runs on five hits in five innings Tuesday, but his team mustered little in a 4-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves. Sanchez has permitted three runs or fewer in his last seven starts, but only has two wins to show for it. In his two victories over Washington this season, he scattered five hits over 15 scoreless innings.

ABOUT THE NATIONALS (78-80): The 78-80 record is accurate. Washington has a chance to finish above .500 for the first time since the franchise moved from Montreal before the 2005 season. Michael Morse belted a two-run homer and Wilson Ramos also went deep as Washington hampered the Atlanta Braves' chances for the wild card with a 3-0 victory Sunday. Morse has struggled against Sanchez, going 4-for-15 with seven strikeouts. While the Nationals are showing signs of improvement, their future has a name - and it's Stephen Strasburg. General manager Mike Rizzo declared Sunday that the talented righthander will be on an innings limit next season.

ABOUT THE MARLINS (71-88): As it has so many times this season, Florida endured another lost weekend. The Marlins were swept by the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers and have dropped five of their last seven overall. Emilio Bonifacio homered for the second time in as many games and extended his hitting streak to seven in the process. Omar Infante collected his second straight multi-hit game and fourth in six games. Numbers aside, even the Marlins players are admitting that they can't wait for the season to end. In 2012, the Miami Marlins will be born.

FINAL PITCH: "Once the team starts struggling, everything gets exposed. We can’t sit here and blame anything on anything or anybody. No matter what we’ve done this year, I feel like all the guys in here have gone out there every day and given everything they had. It just didn’t work out the way we wanted it to." -Florida pitcher Ricky Nolasco.