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 Ruiz hit a leadoff home run in the 10th inning and the
Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 Tuesday night
after another fan ran onto the field at Citizens Bank Park.
On Monday night, a teenager was Tasered in the outfield after
eluding security for about 30 seconds. This man gave himself up
without incident, and was booed by the sellout crowd.
The latest fan on the field may have ruined Cole Hamels' rhythm. The
Phillies starter was cruising to that point, taking a six-hitter
into the ninth. But after the man ran on the field, Hamels quickly
allowed consecutive doubles to David Freese and Yadier Molina to tie
the game.
"I have a job to do and I have to make pitches, which I wasn't able
to do," Hamels said.
Closer Brad Lidge came in and pitched well to keep it tied. Ruiz,
who'd hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the seventh, homered against
Blake Hawksworth (0-1).
Ruiz hit a long shot foul before driving a 2-1 pitch over the fence
in left. Hawksworth put his head down and walked off the mound
before the ball cleared the flower pot above the wall. Ruiz circled
the bases and was mobbed by teammates after his second career
game-ending homer.
"I knew it as soon as I hit it that it was foul. I was too
aggressive," Ruiz said of his first mighty cut. "I was looking for a
fastball again. I relaxed. I saw it and hit it."
Hawksworth knew the game was over once Ruiz swung.
"It was a sinker and it maybe ran back over a little too much. He
was definitely hacking," Hawksworth said.
Jose Contreras (2-1) pitched a scoreless inning to earn the win.
Hamels and Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright were excellent in a
pitcher's duel. Wainwright, a 19-game winner last year, allowed one
run, four hits and fanned six to lower his ERA to 1.96.
Hamels pitched like the guy who was MVP of the 2008 World Series and
NLCS. He gave up two runs and eight hits, striking out eight in
eight-plus innings. The lanky lefty is 13-15 with a 4.58 ERA since
leading the Phillies to their second championship in '08.
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He mixed a sharp fastball with his trademark changeup and his
cutter was more effective than it's been since he began throwing
it.
"He used all his pitches," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.
"His velocity was good. It feels good to see Cole pitch like
that."
Hamels left after Molina's tying double. Lidge retired
pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker on a grounder to first that moved
the runner to third. After an intentional walk, Lidge struck out
Brendan Ryan and pinch-hitter Jon Jay flied out to deep
right-center.
"That was his biggest test since last year," Manuel said.
Lidge got a late start after coming off the disabled list last
week.
"For me, tonight was real big," he said.
Raul Ibanez led off Philadelphia's seventh with a triple to
right-center. The slow-footed Ibanez chugged around second while
center fielder Joe Mather chased his hard liner in the gap, and
easily made it into third.
After Juan Castro bounced out, Ruiz hit a sacrifice fly to right
to score Ibanez for a 1-0 lead.
Hamels escaped trouble in the fifth when Albert Pujols came up
with the bases loaded and two outs. But the big slugger popped
out on the first pitch.
"Both the starting pitchers deserved a better fate," Cardinals
manager Tony La Russa said. "They pitched great, and it turned
out neither one of them was the winner or the loser."
A couple innings before the fan ran onto the field, two male
fans poked fun at the Taser incident while they were being shown
on the large video screen. One guy pretended to use a Taser on
the other fan, who started shaking as if he was stunned.
NOTES: Phillies RHP Ryan Madson will miss at least eight weeks
following surgery on his broken right toe. Madson kicked a chair
after blowing a save last week. ... The crowd of 44,890 was the
53rd straight sellout in Philadelphia. ... Phillies RF Jayson
Werth has reached safely in all 26 games this season.
[Associated Press; By
ROB MAADDI]
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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