The Florida Marlins dropped three of four against the St. Louis Cardinals, and now find themselves 2 1/2 games out of first. It seems the Marlins lack of experience has caught up with them, as they have made countless errors and mental mistakes.

Many predictions had the Marlins pitching being their downfall, but the pitching as been solid. Each starter has put out quality starts, and has kept their team in the ballgame. The problem for the Marlins has been offense.

The Marlins star players seem to have lost confidence at the plate. Dan Uggla, Josh Willingham, Jeremy Hermida, and Mike Jacobs have struggled mightily of late. These four players are key components of the Marlins starting lineup. The Marlins have their work cut out for them against an extremely good Chicago Cubs team.

I think Manager Fredi Gonzalez has done an excellent job with the young club, but I think he has dropped the ball when it comes to the fundamentals, and playing small ball. This team cannot just rely on the home run ball, they need to manufacture runs, and get hits with runners in scoring position.

The fish have been horrendous when it comes to driving in runs. They have struggled even more with runners in scoring position, with less than two outs. This is where veterans like Wes Helms and Luis Gonzalez need to step up and keep the club together during these harder times.

The fish are an extremely resilient ball club, so they just need to stop thinking about the past games and focus on the future which hopefully holds a playoff berth.