Braves Video

Hanson's 10 strikeouts

Heyward's two-run single

Marlins Video

Cantu snags a liner

Hanley's strong throw

The Marlins kicked off a key homestand on Tuesday -- Philadelphia will follow Atlanta -- by leapfrogging the Braves into second place in the division.

The teams' proximity in the standings is surprising, considering their contrasting successes against their most important foes -- NL East teams.

While the Marlins improved to 12-5 against them, the Braves fell to 4-11.

Tommy Hanson gets the chance to execute the reverse-leapfrog on Wednesday for the Braves, when he opposes lefty Nate Robertson.

Both teams are aware of the importance of these intradivision battles. Each counts for a two-game swing in the standings.

"That's what baseball is about," said Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez, a big proponent of balanced head-to-head scheduling against the teams you try to top in the standings. "It's about winning your division, and [those teams] are right there in front of you." 

Back with the Marlins after a seven-year tour of duty in Detroit, and in the American League Central, Robertson is impressed with the balanced NL East. With the Mets' victory over the Phillies on Tuesday, all five teams are at .500 or better.

"On paper, obviously, there are teams who look better than others," Robertson said, "but the parity in terms of how guys are playing and how the teams are playing is pretty good -- it's competitive, and it's good for baseball.

"It's going to be competitive within the division. Everybody knows what's at stake. You have to beat the teams in your division. We've been doing a pretty good job thus far, and we hope to continue that trend."

A fragile offense has been responsible for the Braves' poor results against teams in the division. In those 11 losses to NL East clubs, Atlanta has scored a total of 20 runs.

Tell Kenshin Kawakami about it. His record fell to 0-7 as the Braves scored two of their four runs on Tuesday while he was on the mound.

Which leads to the question, can you identify this number: 2-0-2-0-2-3-0-4-2. No, it is not the phone number to Kawakami's helpline, although it could be; it is the runs of support he has gotten start-by-start.

Braves: Road woes still plague McLouth
Nate McLouth is still trying to warm up on the road after another 0-for-3 effort Tuesday dropped his away average to .117 (9-for-77).

Marlins: Keeping it clean in the field
Trailing the league in fielding percentage not too long ago, the Marlins have played seven consecutive errorless games. ... Chris Coghlan maintained his .396 (21-for-53) lifetime average against Atlanta with a 1-for-3 effort at the plate Tuesday. ... Prospect Mike Stanton has played right field for the Double-A Jacksonville Suns all year, but in three of his past four games, he has started in left field. Stanton is expected to be called up to the Marlins at some point soon, perhaps early June.

Worth noting
This is some kind of an NL home run race we've got between second basemen Dan Uggla of the Marlins and Kelly Johnson of the D-backs. Uggla at least brings some credentials to this race, having consistently hit 31 or 32 home runs each of the last three seasons. But Johnson? His high is 16 (in 2007, his first full Major League season, with the Braves) and his 12 this season are already 50 percent more than he had all last season. Only two second basemen have ever led the NL in homers: Tommy Holmes of the 1945 Braves and Ryne Sandberg of the 1990 Cubs.