Maikel Franco stood 70 feet from first base on Thursday night and watched. Marlins left fielder Derek Dietrich backed himself to the wall and waited.
Something had to give.
Franco’s homer cleared the fence, fell into the first few rows of the left-field seats and gave the Phillies a walk-off 5-2 win. Franco, as soon as he saw the ball drop, emphatically threw his bat in the air and yelled toward the Phillies dugout. The party, after a frustrating night, was finally on.
The Phillies had lost their previous 38 games when trailing after eight innings.