Ruf’s homer lifts Phillies

After another season of failed expectation, Ruf homered Tuesday night for the fifth time in September, a three-run shot in the first inning that hit deep enough to KO the Mets, 4-3. Starter Bartolo Colon served up a three run homer in the first and lasted just five frames in falling 14-13.

Thursday’s game will be aired on Comcast SportsNet, with Phillies Pre-Game Live beforehand at 11:30 a.m. “I don’t know, that was pretty normal to me because I did it for five years”.

Starting pitching, which had been one of the many areas the Phillies struggled with a majority of the season, continues to shine as the season comes to a close. “It’s fun to run the bases and hit”.

“When he goes out and pitches, however many times that is, yeah the reins will be off”, Collins said.

In a proactive measure, the NL East clubs will now play an afternoon game at Citi Field to beat out the impending rain.

New York made things interesting in the ninth, when Lucas Duda crushed a two-run homer after closer Ken Giles walked David Wright to begin the ninth.

New York didn’t help itself in trying to lock up the second seed and home-field advantage for the NL Division Series, losing to the Phillies 4-3 in the series opener Tuesday night.

“It was nice to see him come through”, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. “He’s been swinging the bat better against right-handers”. Darin Ruf paced a 12 hit attack with a three run homer in the first while Aaron Altherrr singled in a run and scored. His drive off Giles gave him seven multi-homer games this season, tying a team record shared by Dave Kingman (1976) and Carlos Delgado (2008).

Altherr extended the Phillies lead in the seventh with a RBI single off Jonathon Niese, who was in the second inning of his first relief appearance of the season. If Matz is pushed back, RHP Logan Verrett will start Wednesday….

Phillies: 3B Maikel Franco is planning to play in the weekend series against Miami. Barring any offseason machinations by the front office, Howard – who looked healthy in the clubhouse after the game and likely will return to action before the Mets and their fans leave town – will be in the final season of his Phillies contract in 2016, with a supplemental buyout option attached.