Carlos Ruiz

Cole Hamels and Carlos Ruiz were named the Phillies most valuable pitcher and player, respectively, on Monday by the Philadelphia chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Hamels, 15-6 with a 3.05 ERA and 202 strikeouts in 203 1/3 innings, won the Steve Carlton Most Valuable Pitcher Award unanimously. The lefthander has two shutouts in 29 starts. First-time all-star Ruiz won the Mike Schmidt Most Valuable Player Award. The catcher is batting .328 with 15 home runs, 62 RBIs, and a .938 OPS - all career highs.

Hey, Phillies, where are you going now that you've won the World Series? Well, the uniform top Cole Hamels wore in Game 5 as he continued the performance that would eventually earn him series MVP honors is going to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. So is a bat used by Ryan Howard in Game 4, Jayson Werth's game-used spikes, Eric Bruntlett's home cap, a batting helmet worn by Carlos Ruiz and the bat pitcher Joe...

When is a Florida State League game worthy of being televised in Philadelphia? When the starting pitcher is Roy Oswalt, the starting catcher is Carlos Ruiz and Chase Utley is in the lineup. Taking advantage of the Phillies' off day, Comcast SportsNet will air tonight's Clearwater Threshers game against the Palm Beach Cardinals at 7 o'clock from Bright House Field in Clearwater. Jim Jackson will handle play-by-play with Ricky Bottalico doing color commentary. CSN will air a postgame show afterward.

The Phillies' offense can thank third base umpire Dale Scott for helping them avoid another shutout. Shane Victorino scored the only Phillies runs on a disputed two-run homer in the seventh inning. Scott admitted after the game the call was wrong. It didn't matter much in the end, the Phillies lost 8-2 to the Marlins last night, only worsening the Phillies' struggles at the plate. In the last four games, the Phillies are hitting .198 (25 for 126) as a team. They've come out 2-2 because of clutch two-out hits against the Cardinals, but couldn't continue that against Marlins starter Josh Johnson.

So who will emerge as the Phillies' unlikely hero this postseason? Members of the Daily News' sports staff weigh in. Bill Conlin: BEN FRANCISCO The well-rounded outfielder's only real weakness is an apparent set of tiny wheels on his uniform derriere that causes him to slide over the bag on stolen-base attempts. Look for him to pop a home run to remember against the Rockies. Paul Hagen: PEDRO FELIZ Surrounded by All-Stars, he tends to go unnoticed. When he is talked about, it's usually to compliment his defense.

Who's hot PHILLIES: Davey Lopes The Phillies' first-base coach turned down an opportunity to join fellow Dodgers greats Steve Garvey, Ron Cey and Bill Russell for the ceremonial first pitch. Lopes' reasoning was he is with the Phillies now, and this was a Dodgers ceremony. DODGERS: James Loney He hit only .250 in the NLDS against St. Louis, but his home run in the second inning last night gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. It was a big hit, since Loney hit only one home run - of his 13 - at Dodger Stadium all year.

Carlos Ruiz is 50-cent-a-gallon gasoline. He is a $500 Mercedes- Benz. He is a five-acre, 15-bedroom mansion on the beach for $5,000. Too good to be to true. Too affordable to be so good. The league MUP - most underpaid player. Perhaps the two greatest injustices in baseball right now are that the Phillies' heavy-duty catcher has never made an all-star team and that he had made only $5.93 million in his career before this season. The all-star snubs can be partially explained.

READING - The Phillies need offense, so they should be happy to hear about catcher Carlos Ruiz's goal for the 2013 season. "I want to hit .400," he said before starting his two-day minor-league assignment at double-A Reading on Friday night. The "Splendid Kidder" was joking, but the struggling Phillies do seriously need his bat back in the lineup, and it won't hurt having his sense of humor in the clubhouse, either. In fact, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Ruiz's leadership might be the thing the Phillies have missed the most through these first four weeks of the season.

NEW YORK - In the grand scheme of things, a backup catcher is not crucial to a team's success. The Phillies possessed two backup catchers during the season's first month, and one had to go Sunday when Carlos Ruiz returned from his suspension. Humberto Quintero's locker was cleared early in the morning. The Phillies chose Erik Kratz as their backup and designated Quintero for assignment. They hope to retain Quintero in the organization, but that requires his passing through waivers unclaimed.

8:40 tonight, Coors Field, Denver. TV: Channel 17. Radio: WPHT (1210-AM); WUBA (1480-AM) Spanish.   Tonight's pitchers   Phillies RHP Roy Halladay (6-1, 1.45) vs. Rockies RHP Aaron Cook (1-3, 6.03)   Three matchups to watch   Roy Halladay vs. Coors Field: The veteran righthander grew up in suburban Denver but never has pitched in his hometown. He gets the chance tonight while looking for his seventh win of the young season. Halladay vs. Jason Giambi: Giambi has had good career success against his frequent AL East nemesis.