Phils move to 6 back, Chooch and Ruf in Town

While extending the 2012 season into the postseason remains a major long shot, there are plenty of positives surrounding this Phillies' ball club for a nice change.

First and foremost, after sweeping the Colorado Rockies the Phils are 8-2 in their last ten games and six games out of the wild card. They still need to leapfrog four teams to jump into one of the two wild card positions. It's a longshot for them to pull that off, but at least they have something to play for in these final three weeks.

Chooch is back! Carlos Ruiz saw his first MLB action since August 2 last night, coming off the bench in the 6th and picking up right where he left off, going 2-for-2 with an RBI.

There's a buzz amongst the organization as Double-A slugger Darin Ruf (or Babe Ruf as he's already been dubbed) has been selected by the Phillies and is in Philadelphia for tonight's game against Miami. He's not in the lineup, as Charlie Manuel likely didn't want to overwhelm the youngster right off the bat. But there's a good chance Ruf makes his first appearance as a pinch-hitter tonight, and he claims he can play Left Field, even though he's only played there in 29 career games.

This is a big week of win-able games against Miami and Houston and will determine if next week we're talking about a legitimate shot at a wild card spot... although a ton of chips are going to need to fall just right.