Ruhle made sporadic appearances for Houston over the next two years before finishing with a 12–4 win-loss record and a 2.38 ERA in , when the team won its first division title, and started Game 4 of the 1980 National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. He left the game with a 2–1 lead in the eighth inning. Houston needed only one more victory to reach their first World Series, but Philadelphia came back to win, 5–3, in 10 innings and took the series after winning the decisive fifth game.