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NEW YORKCharlie Manuel decided to give Carlos Ruiz tender right hamstring one more day to heal, so he held his No. 1 catcher out of the starting lineup for a third straight game Wednesday night.That didnt mean Ruiz was getting a full day off.Charlie told me before the game, Be ready, you might have to pinch-hit, Ruiz said after the game. I said, Yes, I'm ready.Ruiz was ready, all right.Called upon to pinch-hit with two outs in the seventh inning and the Phillies down by two runs, Ruiz lined a game-tying, two-run home run over the left-field wall to start a late rally that led to a 10-6 win over the New York Mets.It was just the type of emotional, come-from-behind win the Phillies needed after getting the news 24 hours earlier that staff ace Roy Halladay would miss up to two months with a strained lat muscle.The win wrapped up a successful seven-game road trip in which the Phillies went 5-2 to pull within three games of the NL East lead (see Salisbury's Instant Replay). Not bad considering all the bumps, bruises and inconsistent play this team has endured over the first two months of the season.I dont think were looking at the standings right now, said Brian Schneider, who started at catcher in place of Ruiz. There are a lot of games left. But hopefully, slowly but surely, were starting to play better.Schneider mentioned that the Phils offense is starting to pick up. Indeed, the Phils scored 21 runs in taking two of three from the Mets.Schneider had one of the biggest hits of the series Wednesday night.His double with two outs in the seventh kept the inning alive for Ruiz, who pinch-hit for Cliff Lee, who pitched another solid game but remained winless after eight starts.Huge hit, Manuel said of Schneiders blast to deep center.With Schneider on second, Manuel called Lee back.I figured Ruiz is my hottest hitter, Manuel said. We had a man on second and we needed to score a run. We needed to get at least one. I had a feeling he was going to get a knock. Thats why I put him up there. Hes put good swings on the ball since spring training.Thats for sure. Ruiz is hitting .371, second-best in the NL. His eight homers are one shy of a career high.Ruiz homer came off Bobby Parnell, who features high-90s heat and a good breaking ball. Ruiz hit a 1-1 curveball.Its not easy sitting out a couple games and doing what Chooch did, especially against a guy like that who throws hard and has a good breaking ball, Schneider said. Its a great piece of hitting, a clutch piece of hitting. There was a lot of energy in the dugout at that point. The goal was to calm down and put up some zeroes.How much energy was there in the dugout after Ruiz game-tying blow?The dugout was very loud, Manuel said. Everyone was in it. Everyone stayed in it. They must have not gotten hungry or something during the game.Antonio Bastardo got three big outs in the bottom of the seventh to keep the game tied and the Phils took the lead on Shane Victorinos sacrifice fly in the eighth. Jose Contreras followed with a 1-2-3 eighth to preserve the lead and the Phils pulled away with six runs in the ninth. Raul Valdes had trouble closing the door in the bottom of the ninth, but no one seemed to mind after the eruption in the top of the inning, which included a three-run homer by Jimmy Rollins, who had three hits.The Phils had nine hits and nine runs in the final three innings.Somewhere in the dugout, Lee had to have been wondering why he cant get offensive support like that. He has allowed three or fewer runs in six of his eight starts and would surely have several victories if it werent for poor run support. In his eight starts, the Phils have scored just 15 runs while he has been in the game.
Thats just how it goes sometimes, Lee said. Just as long as we win the game, thats all that matters to me. We were able to do that, so, its big. We won the series.
Lee was the last person to speak to Ruiz before he slugged his game-tying home run. The two passed each other as Lee walked to the dugout and Ruiz to the plate.
Go get em, Lee told Ruiz.Ruiz did just that, balky hamstring and all.Im happy to have that at-bat, Ruiz said. It felt great.
E-mail Jim Salisbury at jsalisbury@comcastsportsnet.com.