A Gem and a Blast

On a night when Carlos Ruiz caught a gem from Cole Hamels, it was a pitch that the Phillies' catcher caught up to in the bottom of the 10th inning Tuesday that sent the sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park into celebration.

Three pitches after hooking a ball just foul that would have ended the game, Ruiz slammed a 2-1 fastball from Blake Hawksworth into the left-field flower box for a walk-off home run that gave the Phillies a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

"I was looking for a fastball and I got it," Ruiz said. "That was a big win for us."

Ruiz' swing ended a game that turned crazy in the ninth inning when Hamels' bid for a complete-game shutout was first interrupted by a fan trespassing on the field, then ended by consecutive doubles that tied the score at 1-1.

The Taser movement no doubt has more support among Phillies fans this morning because of what happened in the ninth. With Hamels about to throw his first pitch of the inning, home-plate umpire Adrian Johnson called a time-out, pointing to the intruder in left field.

It became a national story Monday because 17-year-old Steve Consalvi was apprehended with the aide of a Taser gun used by a Philadelphia police officer. A debate about what constitutes excessive force ensued.

Given the circumstances of Tuesday night's game, the sellout crowd was all in favor of the Taser. A Phillies spokeswoman said the 33-year-old fan was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing and related charges.

"That gave me a bad feeling," Ruiz said.

Hamels went to the mound in the ninth protecting a 1-0 lead after pitching most of the evening like the guy who went a combined 29-15 in 2007 and 2008 and earned a World Series MVP award.

It could be argued that he shouldn't have been there because he had already thrown 111 pitches, but manager Charlie Manuel had confidence in his lefthander.

"I wanted to see him throw a shutout," Manuel said. "I thought it was going to be huge for him."

Instead, David Freese slammed a 0-2 change-up from Hamels into left-center field for a double and Yadier Molina doubled down the right-field line for the tying run.

"I didn't allow [the fan] to affect me," Hamels said. "I had a job to do. I had to make pitches. I did that with my first two pitches, but I didn't with the third one."

Hamels, after pitching eight shutout innings and striking out eight, was immediately removed from the game by Manuel.

Enter Brad Lidge. Another fascinating drama was about to unfold.

Like Hamels, the Phillies' closer is trying to regain his 2008 form and this was by far his tightest situation since returning from the disabled list at the start of this homestand.

Lidge escaped the ninth without surrendering another run, thanks to a one-out strikeout of Brendan Ryan with a nasty slider. Lidge hung a 1-2 slider to Tyler Greene, but got away with it when the Cardinals' second baseman flied out at the warning track in center field.

"I wish Cole could have finished the game," Lidge said. "I wanted to make sure the game stayed tied."

Hamels' velocity was markedly improved in his eight-inning effort.

"I see his fastball getting back to where it was a couple years ago," Manuel said.

One of the first signs that Hamels' fastball was alive and well came in the top of the second when he struck out the Cardinals' David Freese. The radar gun in right field clocked the pitch at 95 m.p.h.

"A good fastball sets up the rest of your pitches," Hamels said. "Guys don't want to let a fastball go by, so once you establish that pitch, you can do a lot of things with your other pitches. I just felt free and easy."