Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Darin Ruf hit his first career major league home run Tuesday night, taking a Ross Detwiler pitch deep to left field in just his fourth career plate appearance.
With the Phillies down 1-0 early in the game against the Washington Nationals, Ruff hit his game-tying solo shot in the second inning.
Ruf's homer proved a spark to the Phillies offense, which has piled on four more runs to lead the Nationals 5-1 through three innings.
After playing 139 games for the Reading Phillies in 2012, Ruf was called up to the big club, getting his debut on Sept. 22. Ruf recorded an RBI in one plate appearance in an 8-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves.
In Reading, Ruf batted .317 in 139 games with 38 home runs and 104 RBI on his way to being named 2012 Eastern League MVP and Rookie of the Year. The Reading Phillies were eliminated by the Trenton Thunder in the Eastern League Divisional Series at the beginning of September to bring Ruf's minor league season to a close.