Phils Fall to Marlins, 7-3

After Josh Beckett ran out of gas, Eric Owens and Alex Gonzalez got the engine running again for the Florida Marlins.

Owens singled to break an eighth-inning tie and Gonzalez broke it open with a three-run homer in the ninth to lift the Marlins to a rare victory at Veterans Stadium, 7-3, over the Phillies.

"It was big win. It almost got away from us," Marlins manager Jeff Torborg said. "The kid (Beckett) pitched a great game. That kid is really special."

Beckett, the consensus 2001 Minor League Player of the Year who finished last season with the Marlins, held the Phillies scoreless through six innings. But he lost his touch in the seventh when Philadelphia scored three times to tie it, 3-3.

The tying run scored on an error by third baseman Mike Lowell, who hit a two-run homer in the fourth to give the Marlins the early lead. It was the first error by a Marlin this season.

Beckett lasted a career-high 6 2/3 innings, and was charged with three runs — two earned — and seven hits. Pitching in 47-degree weather, Beckett walked two, struck out six and threw 105 pitches.

"When you go out there, you've got to battle through things like that," Beckett said of the conditions. "That's when you find out what kind of pitcher you are anyway, when you don't have tour best stuff."

The Marlins regained the lead for good in the eighth on singles by Derrek Lee, Mike Redmond and Owens, who grounded a single to right field off Jose Santiago (0-1).

"It was one of those games where somebody was going to get a big hit," Redmond said. "It was freezing out there."

Preston Wilson fouled out to third with the bases loaded to end the inning, but the Marlins would break open the game an inning later when Gonzalez homered off Rheal Cormier.

Vladimir Nunez (1-0) pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings for the win.

Florida lost the opener of the three-game series on Friday and dropped nine of 10 games in Philadelphia last season.

Phillies starter Dave Coggin lasted 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs — two earned — and four hits.

"I have a lot to improve on. I hadn't pitched in a while and I was a little rusty." Coggin said.

Florida seized a 3-0 lead with two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth. Kevin Millar reached on a broken-bat single with two outs in the fourth and Lowell belted a 1-2 pitch over the left-field wall for a 2-0 lead.

"It was a slider that backed over the plate," Coggin said.

Luis Castillo reached on an infield single to open the fifth. He went to second on a wild pitch by Coggin, to third on a groundout by Wilson and scored on a passed ball by Todd Pratt.

Marlon Anderson tripled into the right field corner with one out to start the seventh-inning rally and scored on a single down the left field line by Pratt. One out later, Jimmy Rollins lined a run-scoring double to right field, finishing Beckett in favor of Michael Tejera.

The Marlins appeared to be out of the inning when pinch hitter Dave Hollins hit a grounder to third, but the throw from Lowell was wild.

ComcastSportsNet.com Wire Services