ENGLEWOOD Nick Nelson Jersey , Colo. (AP) — Paxton Lynch inched closer to full-blown bust status Monday when he was demoted to third string after Chad Kelly’s solid debut in the Denver Broncos‘ exhibition opener.

“Chad’s played well. He played well in the scrimmage. He played well Saturday night. So he deserves the chance to be the 2 right now,” coach Vance Joseph said.

Lynch was disappointed, Joseph said, “but he understands that it’s a performance business.”

“He has great potential, physical potential. But it’s got to equal performance eventually,” Joseph said. “He understands that. It’s a performance league. And everything we do, it’s graded and it’s counted.”

After a string of poor performances at training camp, Lynch was ineffective in seven series Saturday night against Minnesota, completing 6 of 11 passes for 24 yards and an interception to go with a sack.

Kelly, who missed his rookie season last year while recovering from wrist and knee injuries, completed 14 of 21 passes for 177 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in Denver’s 42-28 loss to the Vikings.

Kelly celebrated his promotion by sticking around after practice Monday and throwing passes to tight end Jake Butt and receiver River Cracraft for more than 20 minutes.

Kelly thanked his teammates, saying they had just as much to do with his promotion.

“Those guys made the plays. They got me in the right protections and the guys with the ball in their hands made plays,” Kelly said.

When Case Keenum signed this spring and Trevor Siemian was subsequently traded to the Vikings, Broncos general manager John Elway said the No. 2 QB job was up for grabs.

Lynch Donald Penn Jersey , however, worked exclusively with the second-string offense until Monday, when they flip-flopped roles, leaving Lynch a sideline spectator during the two-minute drills, reflective of his new status as the team’s third quarterback.

The switch at QB is as much a reward for Kelly’s solid offseason as it is an indictment of Lynch, who hasn’t made the strides Joseph and Elway expected of him in Year 3 — especially without the pressure of having to vie for the starting job again.

“It’s really more about what Chad’s done, honestly — and Chad has played well, he’s played with poise, he’s played with confidence,” Joseph said. “He moved the ball for us on Saturday night. And it’s been that way since the spring. He had a great spring. He’s had a great camp. So, it’s his turn to be the 2. He’s earned that right.”

Lynch was beaten out by Siemian, a seventh-round draft pick, in each of the last two summers and now has fallen behind another seventh-rounder in Kelly, who was the final pick of the 2017 NFL draft.

Joseph noted that the competition isn’t over, the depth chart remains fluid.

“And it rewards guys who are playing well Kenny Stills Jersey ,” Joseph said. “It’s only right. That’s what we live by with our players: if you’re playing well and you earn it, you push up and you get it. It’s a fair league.”

Kelly could stay ahead of Lynch on the depth chart and still not win the backup job, though, if the Broncos decide to go out and get an experienced free agent instead.

Asked if he’d have any reservations about going into the regular season with the inexperienced Kelly as his No. 2 QB, Joseph said, “Things change in this league all the time. But right now, he’s our backup.”

Joseph cautioned that “we’ve got to be patient with Chad.”

“You want a guy who can go into a game and operate the offense and not beat his own football team, but also have the confidence to make some plays and lead our unit,” Joseph said when pressed for what he needs to see from Kelly or Lynch to stick with one of them as Keenum’s No. 2.

Kelly knows he’ll have his doubters.

“You’ve just got to work hard. That’s what it is,” he said. “Even the best ones are still working hard. They don’t know everything. And obviously me being in my second year, I don’t know anything. So, I’ve got to work hard, I’ve got to watch more film than I ever have before. And when your time’s called, you’d better be able to step up and go.”

Brian Anderson stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning with the game tied, one out and the bases loaded.

The Marlins’ rookie took the situation in stride like a veteran.

Anderson hit a game-ending sacrifice fly to lift the Miami Marlins over the San Francisco Giants 5-4 on Wednesday night.

”In a situation like that Jerry Hughes Jersey , the pressure’s not on you, it’s on the pitcher,” Anderson said. ”I tried to stay within myself and get something in the strike zone, something I could elevate.”

J.T. Realmuto had two hits and scored twice for the Marlins, who have won three straight for the first time since winning four in a row April 28-May 1.

Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run home run and Buster Posey had three hits for the Giants, who entered the series winning eight of 10 but have dropped the first three games against last-place Miami and eight of the last nine in the series.

”Yyou can’t take any team lightly,” McCutchen said. ”This is the big leagues and regardless of their record or how many fans are in the stands, you’ve got to be ready to go.”

Reyes Moronta (2-1) allowed the first two hitters to reach in the bottom of the ninth, prompting manager Bruce Bochy to call on Hunter Strickland. Pinch-hitter J.B. Shuck hit a hard grounder down the first-base line, but Posey was able to dive to keep the ball in front of him, preventing the Marlins from scoring.

However, Strickland got himself into a 3-1 count against Anderson with one out. Anderson connected on a flyball to center field caught by Gorkys Hernandez, whose throw home was too late to catch Miguel Rojas.

”He didn’t crush it, but he got it deep enough,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.

It was the Marlins’ third walk-off win of the season.

San Francisco’s Evan Longoria broke a 3-all tie with a hit in the seventh off Tayron Guerrero. It was Longoria’s team-leading 11th go-ahead RBI of the season.

The Marlins responded with a two-out RBI double in the eighth by Justin Bour off Sam Dyson Jeremy Kerley Jersey , tying the game at 4.

It was the third time in the game the Marlins trailed but bounced back to draw even.

”We’re doing what we’re hoping, we’re getting the lead,” Bochy said. ”We’re just having a hard time holding it.”

Drew Steckenrider (3-1) pitched a scoreless top of the ninth.

Andrew Suarez allowed five hits and two runs in five innings for the Giants, pitching in his hometown in front of a number of friends and family members. He struck out three and walked two.

”I just didn’t really have a feel for a lot of pitches later in the game,” Suarez said. ”I just think with all of the humidity and sweating so much, the ball was a little slick. But you have to compete and keep throwing strikes.”

Miami’s Caleb Smith pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits and three runs.

He also had two hits at the plate.

”That was pretty fun,” Smith said. ”I’ve been working on it.”

McCutchen’s two-run blast in the first was his seventh of the season.

The Marlins tied the game at 2 on base hits by Cameron Maybin and Lewis Brinson in the fourth.

The teams traded runs in the sixth. Austin Jackson gave the Giants a 3-2 lead before Bour tied it with a base hit.

ROOF OPEN

The retractable roof was open for the 15th time this season, the most in a year since Marlins Park opened in 2012.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Giants: 1B Brandon Belt (appendix) is likely to have a couple rehab starts with the goal of joining the team on the next homestand beginning June 18 instead of playing this weekend in Los Angeles. … RHP Johnny Cueto (left ankle) will have another bullpen session Friday. … RHP Jeff Samardzija (right shoulder) will have a rehab start with Triple-A Sacramento on Friday with a pitch limit of 60-65 pitches.

UP NEXT

Giants: RHP Dereck Rodriguez (1-1, 5.25 ERA) will start Thursday’s series finale. Rodriguez, the son of former Marlins catcher and Hall of Famer Pudge Rodriguez, spent a lot of time around the Marlins when his father helped lead them to a World Series title in 2003.

Marlins: RHP Dan Straily (2-2, 4.08) is 4-0 with a 2.43 ERA in five career starts against the Giants.

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