MIAMI _ The confusing career of Giancarlo Stanton _ at once objectively among the best in Marlins history and disappointing given his physique, contract and perceived potential _ reached another milestone Friday.
His home run, on a slider that he got enough of to plant into the first row of seats in right field, helped Miami to a 7-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks and gave him the all-time franchise RBI record with 579.
Stanton bumped Mike Lowell, the Marlins' All-Star third baseman when they last made the playoffs in 2003, to second in 102 fewer games. Add it to Stanton's growing list of achievements, including climbing to the top of a myriad of the organization's leaderboards: home runs, extra-base hits, strikeouts and Baseball Reference's WAR.
On Friday, Stanton's was one in a series of home runs that combined with an effective relief effort to propel the Marlins to a sixth win in eight games. Christian Yelich and Justin Bour each had two-run blasts in the first inning.
Unlike Thursday night, when Kyle Barraclough and Brad Ziegler combined to blow a slim Miami lead in the eighth inning, the Marlins bullpen successfully navigated the late innings. It tossed 42/3 shutout innings, starting with righty Dustin McGowan for 12/3.
The seventh-inning platoon of lefty Jarlin Garcia (two batters, two outs) and righty Nick Wittgren (one batter, one out) got the ball to David Phelps, who handled the eighth with ease. Closer A.J. Ramos pitched a perfect ninth.
The middle of the Miami lineup did almost all of the damage against lefty Patrick Corbin and the Arizona bullpen. Stanton, Yelich, Bour, Marcell Ozuna and J.T. Realmuto all had two hits apiece. Realmuto added a run on a seventh-inning single up the middle.
In nine games in the No. 2 spot in the order, Stanton is hitting .417 (15 for 36) with four home runs and nine RBIs. On Friday alone, he also scored three runs.
Right-hander Jose Urena contributed his worst outing of the year, five runs allowed in 41/3 innings. He struck out one and walked only one _ both drastic departures from his career-high seven strikeouts and six walks last time out _ but gave up nine hits.
Two of those hits left the yard. Paul Goldschmidt homered to left in the top of the third to get the Diamondbacks on the board, and Chris Iannetta homered to left in the top of the fifth to start Urena's night-ending rally.
When Jake Lamb lined a single to right to tie the game at five, finishing a run of five out of six hitters reaching base to open the fifth, manager Don Mattingly pulled Urena in favor of McGowan, who escaped the jam without further trouble.
