Spearheaded by reliever Justin Miller, all the relievers are either sporting or about to grow out some facial hair: specifically mustaches.

Miller came up with the concept when he read an article where Arizona's Eric Byrnes coined 2008 as: "The Year of the Mustache."

Previously, Miller and Byrnes were teammates in the Minor Leagues, in Sacramento.

After reading the Year of the Mustache quotes, Miller sent Byrnes a text message saying: "We're in."

Basically, the players will sport the mustaches when things are going well. They may shave them from time to time, during rough spots, but then grow them back.

Miller points out that in 2005, he had a thick mustache.

"Byrnes used to tease me about that," said Miller.

One reliever not crazing about facial hair is Matt Lindstrom. He was growing one the past few days, but then shaved it off. He says the hair irritates his face.

"I will probably get a handlebar one," Lindstrom said. "The thing is, when I grow a beard, the hair is black, but my mustache and under my lip is blonde, and you can barely see it."

Taylor Tankersley now has a thick handlebar 'stache.

In a superstitious sport like baseball, whatever works is acceptable. Right now, it's hard to argue with the success of Florida's bullpen.

First month numbers certainly are reflecting that.

The Marlins' bullpen came into Tuesday's series opener with the Dodgers with the third best ERA (2.81) in the Majors. Only Tampa Bay's 2.26 and Philadelphia's 2.60 are lower. They're producing impressive numbers, in spite of the fact they are one of the most heavily used relief corps in the game. With 89 2/3 innings, they are tied for the fifth most amount of innings in the league.

The steady play of the 'pen is directly reflected in the team's record in close games. In one-run affairs, Florida is now 5-2.

A difference between last year and now?

Manager Fredi Gonzalez says the roles are more clearly established. The Marlins were without Miller early on in 2007, and Kevin Gregg, now the closer, was being used in various early and middle-inning roles at in the first month of last season.

"Early on last year, we didn't have the bullpen that we have now," Gonzalez said. "We didn't know what we had.

"When you're bullpen is good, you have a chance to pull off these [one run] types of games, I believe. And our bullpen gets even better when our starters go deep into games. That is no revelation there."

Having a dependable bullpen, has the Marlins beating good teams. They took two of three at Milwaukee over the weekend, with two of those victories coming in the 10th inning.

"We're still playing well against good teams. We're playing well consistently," Gregg said. "Guys are starting to fit and play together, and we're winning ball games.

"We're winning close games. Those are the games you need to win, if you want to be in it for the long run."