Rookie Jerad Eickhoff pitched a gem in his final start of the season and Darin Ruf continued to swing a hot bat as the playing-out-the-string Phillies completed a three-game sweep of the NL East champion New York Mets with a 3-0 win on Thursday afternoon.
Eickhoff, a product of the Cole Hamels trade, pitched seven shutout innings. He scattered four hits, walked just one and struck out 10.
Ruf clubbed a two-run homer with two outs in the fourth.
The Phillies have won four straight and five of six. They are 62-97 on the season. They need to win just one of their final three games to avoid their first 100-loss season since 1961.
Game time was moved to noon from 7 p.m. because of the threat of bad weather. The paid attendance was 13,238, the lowest mark in Citizens Bank Park’s 12-year history. The actual in-house attendance was under 1,300, according to people who know such things.
Starting pitching report
Eickhoff, 25, was a real bright spot for the Phillies. He made eight starts for the club and went 3-3 with a 2.65 ERA. He finished with four straight starts of seven innings. He pitched shutout ball in two of those starts, allowed just one run in another and two runs in the other. He struck out 10 in each of his last two starts.
Leading 2-0, Eickhoff ended his day by striking out Juan Lagares on a full-count curveball with two men on base in the seventh.
Mets lefty Sean Gilmartin gave up two runs — on Ruf’s homer — over five innings and took the loss.
Bullpen report
Jerome Williams and Luis Garcia closed it out for the Phillies.
At the plate
Ruf has seven home runs and 21 RBIs in his last 23 games. On Wednesday, manager Pete Mackanin indicated that Ruf would be part of his first base plans in 2016 (see story).
Jeff Francoeur preceded Ruf’s two-run homer with a two-out out double in the fourth.
Andres Blanco gave the Phillies some breathing room with a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth.
The Mets out-hit the Phillies, 6-5, but two Phillies hits landed over the fence.
Health check
Third baseman Maikel Franco was activated from the disabled list. He is expected to see some action this weekend. He has been out since suffering a fractured left wrist on Aug. 11 (see story).
Up next
The Phillies host the Marlins in the final series of the season beginning Friday night. Aaron Harang (6-15, 4.86) starts for the Phillies against lefty Justin Nicolino (4-4, 4.16) on Friday. The Phillies will use the bullpen to get through Saturday’s game. David Buchanan (2-9, 7.54) pitches Sunday’s season finale.