Thanks to a rare visit from three of the pitcher's best friends, the Marlins and former Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano headed off to Chicago with a respectable four-game split with the National League East first-place Washington Nationals.

Zambrano induced four huge double plays from the Nationals (51-36), also benefitted from a monstrous two-run homer from a struggling Hanley Ramirez and was helped by a gutsy suicide-squeeze by Emilio Bonifacio to help construct a much-needed 5-3 victory on a stormy Monday night.