Phillies Sweep Braves on Ruf’s 8th Inning Homer

Cole Hamels actually got lucky. It’s about time.

Hamels went eight innings, giving up two runs on two hits while striking out nine in the Phillies 3-2 Another solid performance that dropped his ERA to 3.45. It’s almost going unnoticed how great he has been. His only blemishes came off the bat of Evan Gattis.

The mule-strong Gattis hit the longest home run in Citizens Bank Park history at 486 feet on Ashburn Alley. He’d also add another bomb to torture Hamels.

However, Hamels was bailed out by Darin Ruf with his 13th home run in the eighth inning. Ruf has done that damage in just 188 at-bats. With 15 career home runs in 252 plate appearances, that extrapolates to 37 home runs over a 162 game season. The Phillies are sorely lacking that power.

Jonathan Papelbon was given the day off, so BJ Rosenberg came in for a nine-pitch save.

Pat Gallen

Pat joined Phillies Nation in July 2009, coming over from Examiner.com. As a previous employee of both Comcast SportsNet and the National Basketball Association, Pat prides himself on being a well-rounded individual when it comes to sports. However, the Phillies are first on the list. You’ll usually find Pat chiming in on the Phillies Nation Facebook or Twitter account, weekdays on 97.3 ESPN radio or hosting Phillies Nation TV. He’s also a Senior Writer for the site, and in his free time is a music enthusiast and Will Ferrell movie-follower. His favorite beer: Philly’s own Yards. In 2015, Pat moved on from Phillies Nation as a sports anchor and reporter for CBS-3 in Philadelphia.