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Ruf homers for Phillies in win over Cubs

Aug 7, 2013 - 5:58 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Junior Lake thought he had a beat on Darin Ruf's fly ball in the fifth inning.

He slowly moved back to his left, eyes focused on the ball. Eventually, though, his right shoulder slammed into the left-field fence as the ball landed in the seats.

Like the left-field wall for Lake, the downtrodden Philadelphia Phillies' offensive explosion came out of nowhere, overtaking the Cubs for a 9-8, come- from-behind win in the first of a three-game series.

Ruf went 2-for-4 with two RBI and his fourth home run of the season in what was only the Phillies second win in their last 15 games and first in six.

"It's nice getting a good pitch to hit, swinging at strikes, having a plan every at-bat," said Ruf. "That's what we've been talking about and it's nice to go up there and execute."

Chase Utley had three hits, two runs and two RBI and Domonic Brown, in his first game since July 23 because of a concussion, had a hit and knocked in two runs. Brown, though, dropped a fly ball with two outs in the ninth, allowing a run to score and the tying run to reach base before Jonathan Papelbon held onto the win.

Kyle Kendrick (10-8) struggled again despite getting the win. He gave up five runs -- four earned -- on six hits over six innings. Over his last seven starts, Kendrick is 3-4 with a 7.02 ERA.

Donnie Murphy and Anthony Rizzo both homered for the Cubs, who lost their fifth straight game.

Edwin Jackson (7-12) took the Cubs' eighth loss in nine games after giving up seven runs on 10 hits in five innings.

"When you leave balls up, it's not real good," said Jackson. "Today was just one of those days where you don't find a rhythm and everything is up and you don't really have your stuff."

The Phillies trailed, 5-2, going into the bottom of the third but picked up a pair of runs. Utley and Jimmy Rollins started the inning with singles. Utley scored on Brown's ground out and Rollins came home on a Ruf double, making the score 5-4.

Philadelphia completed the comeback in the fifth inning. Michael Young drew a leadoff walk and scored when Utley crushed a triple that caromed off the fence in left-center field. Utley scored on another Brown ground out and Ruf followed with a solo home run, quickly giving the Phillies a 7-5 lead.

The Phillies scored in the sixth after Asche singled and came around to score on a Young double and Carlos Ruiz blasted a solo homer in the eighth to make the score 9-5.

Nate Schierholtz picked up a two-run single in the ninth and later scored when Brown dropped the potential third out, but Papelbon held on to a 9-8 win.

The Phillies started off the scoring in the first when Young led off with his first of two doubles and scored on Utley's base hit to left field to take a 1-0 lead.

Chicago responded with four runs in the second. Schierholtz lined a double down the right-field line and moved to third on a sacrifice fly. Wellington Castillo followed with a ground ball to third base, and Cody Asche unsuccessfully tried to throw Schierholtz out at the plate. The following hitter, Darwin Barney, reached on catcher's interference and Murphy crushed a slider into the left-field seats for a three-run home run and a 4-1 lead.

Asche helped the Phillies get a run back in the bottom of the second when he doubled and scored on Kendrick's base hit just inside the first-base bag.

Rizzo lined a high changeup just over the right-field wall and inside the foul pole in the third to make the score 5-2.

Game Notes

Prior to the game, the Phillies activated Brown from the seven-day concussion list and designated outfielder Laynce Nix for assignment. The team also selected the contract of pitcher Cesar Jimenez with pitcher Antonio Bastardo on the restricted list due to his involvement with Biogenesis... With two doubles, Young reached 20 on the season for the 12th straight year ... Ruf became the first Phillie since Chase Utley in 2009 to reach base in 33 straight games ... The Cubs have recorded an extra-base hit in 29 straight games ... Chicago is 15-25 in one-run games.