MIAMI _ Welcome to the Marlins, Jeff Francoeur.
Miami's newest big leaguer scored the walk-off run in a 7-6 win against the Padres on Friday, capping a scratch-and-claw night with a scratch-and-claw rally in the teams' series opener at Marlins Park. He finished 3-for-4 with a walk in his first start with the Marlins.
Francoeur's one-out single _ a dribbler that stopped about halfway to third base _ allowed him to reach. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, then scored on Chris Johnson's long fly ball to right-center field.
The Marlins mobbed Johnson before he could even reach second base in celebration of the win.
The final run was an extension of previous offensive efforts. In the eighth inning, with the Marlins down by three, a two-out, game-tying rally set the stage for the later-inning dramatics. Martin Prado (two RBI) and Christian Yelich (RBI) did the damage on singles to center.
David Phelps' promising night came undone in a hurry. Through three innings, Phelps threw 39 pitches to strike out five and hold San Diego hitless. In the fourth _ while recording only two outs _ Phelps threw 33 pitches to strike out one and yield four runs (two hits).
Phelps' final play of the night resulted in his final run allowed of the night. Cosart sent what could have been an inning-ending dribbler toward first base, but when Xavier Scruggs fielded it, Phelps stopped running toward the bag. When he restarted to take the last couple of steps, it was too late and he dropped Scruggs' flip.
Luis Sardinas scored from second base on the play. The sequence thoroughly enthused Cosart, who smiled and clapped toward the Padres dugout from first base.
Three pitches prior, Sardinas sent a fly ball off the wall in right-center field to score three runs.
Phelps appeared early like he would cruise to another sharp start. He painted the third-base edge of the strike zone _ inside to righties, outside to lefties _ with ease, getting four of his six strikeouts looking. The last of those was Wil Myers, who fouled off a four-seam fastball right down the middle for strike two before watching a slider catch a corner for strike three.
Myers' punchout was the 100th of Phelps' year, the first time in five big league seasons he's reached that milestone.
The Marlins scored in the first and third innings for a short-lived lead. Marcell Ozuna lined a double over the head of right fielder Patrick Kivlehan _ who ran an inefficient route to the ball _ to score Yelich in the opening frame. Later, with runners on the corners and nobody out, Yelich sent a bouncer to second base to score J.T. Realmuto.
Former Marlin Jarred Cosart, getting the start for the Padres, held his old team to two runs (one earned) in five innings.
