As far as tonight's game....

 

This kind of series was essential for a team that wants to contend.

 

Yes, I know it's the Milwaukee Brewers. That's the point.

 

In the past couple of years, the Marlins have had a tendency to play up or down to their competition. The Marlins would go out and play a good series against the Braves or Dodgers, then drop 2 of 3 to the Padres. We play the Brewers NINE TIMES this season. Good, playoff-caliber teams take advantage of teams like Milwaukee and pound on them. I don't know if the Marlins are at that stage but this is something that they'll need to do if they want to be there at the end of the season.

Yeah, we got lucky with the 9 games against the Brewers. Since the 5-team NL East plays the 4-team AL West in interleague play, each NL East team gets an extra series against an NL Central team. The Marlins got the Brewers for their extra series.