NEW YORK - Carlos Ruiz' sore left ankle is a big enough problem that the Phillies kept him on the sidelines for the start of last night's game against the Yankees. But Ruiz and manager Charlie Manuel said they were hopeful that the catcher will be able to return to the lineup today.
Ruiz suffered the injury in the ninth inning of a 5-3 win over the Red Sox on Sunday when he slid awkwardly into the backstop at Fenway Park while chasing a pitch from J.C. Romero that got past him.
"He should be OK, but he's nicked up a little bit," Manuel said.
Ruiz is also working on his swing, which Manuel feels has gotten a bit "long" and is the primary reason for his current hitless streak of 22 at-bats.
"It's something that I'm working on right now," Ruiz said. "I'm hoping that I can come back tomorrow and have the same approach that I had earlier in the season."
Ruiz was one of the Phillies' most productive hitters through mid-May, hitting .341 with a .464 on-base percentage in his first 29 games. But like most of the team, he has struggled during a 25-game stretch in which they have won just eight games.
Ruiz is hitting .155 with a .279 OBP in his last 20 games.
Shortstop Jimmy Rollins made his second rehab start last night, going 1-for-3 while playing seven innings for Class A Clearwater. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said the team will wait until today to decide how to proceed with Rollins, who has played in just 12 games this season while battling a calf strain that has required two trips to the disabled list. Rollins said Tuesday that the plan was to take today off and then play a complete game tomorrow, but Amaro said Rollins could end up playing tonight. Whatever happens, it is possible that he rejoins the active roster on Saturday.
In a three-game series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, Manuel used Ben Francisco and Ross Gload as his designated hitters. Yesterday, however, he tapped Greg Dobbs, thanks to his success in limited experience against A.J. Burnett. Going into last night's game, Dobbs had four hits in six at-bats against the Yankees righthander, including a double, and two RBI.
