Darin Ruf homered and had a career-high six RBIs, powering the Philadelphia Phillies to a 14-8 blowout Tuesday night that emphatically ended their 10-game losing streak to the New York Mets.
Leadoff batter Darnell Sweeney drove in three runs for the last-place Phillies, who won for the second time in 15 meetings with the NL East leaders this season. Andres Blanco hit a two-run double and scored twice in an eight-run sixth, Philadelphia's biggest inning of the year. The Phillies scored the eight runs on only three hits.
Ruf caught hold of an 0-2 curveball and launched it for a three-run shot, the second time in six days he capped a five-run third inning with a homer off Jonathon Niese (8-10).
Last week in Philadelphia, the Mets bailed out Niese and rallied from a 5-0 deficit against Aaron Harang for a 9-5 victory in 13 innings. They made a run at doing it again Tuesday, scoring four times in the fifth to trim their deficit to 6-4. Yoenis Cespedes cracked a two-run homer that snapped an 0-for-16 stretch and chased Harang one out short of qualifying for a win.
New York reliever Bobby Parnell quickly made a mess of his first outing off the disabled list. He walked his first two batters in the sixth and threw away a bunt for an error that allowed a run to score.
Parnell crouched in the grass and hung his head before getting booed off the mound. Struggling lefty Eric O'Flaherty relieved and walked his only hitter.
Sweeney followed with a two-run double off Carlos Torres. Two outs later, Ruf had a two-run single and Blanco added a two-run double.
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Ruf singled home a run in the fifth and has three homers off Niese in 17 at-bats. Playing first base while Ryan Howard sat out against a lefty, Ruf doubled his RBI total since the All-Star break and became the first Phillie with six RBIs in a game since Delmon Young on June 28, 2013.
The previous time Philadelphia put up as many as 14 runs was a 14-10 win at Texas on opening day of 2014.
Jeanmar Gomez (2-3) was credited with the win after yielding two runs and five hits in two innings. Harang is 1-11 with a 6.62 ERA in 16 starts since beating Pittsburgh with eight shutout innings on May 14.
Cespedes matched a career high with his 27th homer — nine since the Mets acquired him from Detroit on July31. He tripled and scored in the seventh, but New York manager Terry Collins pulled a slew of starters in the eighth.
New reliever Addison Reed, acquired Sunday from Arizona, worked a perfect inning in his Mets debut.
New York won Niese's previous eight starts against the Phillies.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Phillies: LHP Matt Harrison and RHP Chad Billingsley were transferred to the 60-day DL to create space on the 40-man roster for two September call-ups: C Erik Kratz and RHP Colton Murray. Philadelphia recalled RHP Dalier Hinojosa from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Mets: After appearing in four of the previous five games and throwing 45 pitches over the past two days, closer Jeurys Familia was unavailable. ... Parnell (shoulder tendinitis) was one of seven players the Mets added when rosters expanded Tuesday. RHP Vic Black was sent outright to Triple-A Las Vegas to open a 40-man roster spot.
SWISH!
UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma chatted with Mets general manager Sandy Alderson during batting practice. Wearing a No. 20 Mets jersey with his name on it, Auriemma threw out the ceremonial first pitch from the rubber and was right on the money.
UP NEXT
Mets ace Matt Harvey (11-7) faces prized rookie Aaron Nola (5-1) in the series finale Wednesday night, the first matchup between two talented NL East pitchers who could be squaring off for years to come. Both right-handers were drafted No. 7 overall, Harvey out of North Carolina in 2010 and Nola from LSU last year.
