Phillies Notes: No timetable for Ruiz's return
Two days after Carlos Ruiz was struck in the head by a 78-m.p.h. curveball, there was scant clarity on the extent of his concussion. The Phillies catcher was placed on the seven-day disabled list Friday, arrived early Saturday for an examination, and was sent home prior to the team's doubleheader against Atlanta.
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Two days after Carlos Ruiz was struck in the head by a 78-m.p.h. curveball, there was scant clarity on the extent of his concussion. The Phillies catcher was placed on the seven-day disabled list Friday, arrived early Saturday for an examination, and was sent home prior to the team's doubleheader against Atlanta.
Ruiz can be activated Friday at the earliest. When asked if there was an indication as to how much time Ruiz would miss, Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said: "No. Not at all."
The Phillies started 35-year-old veteran Koyie Hill at catcher in Saturday's first game. Rookie Cameron Rupp caught the second game.
This is the sixth straight season in which Ruiz has required a trip to the disabled list. He missed 20 games with a concussion in 2010.
"He'll be evaluated daily," Sandberg said. "He was just taking it easy."
Backup catcher Wil Nieves is also eligible to be activated Friday from the DL. He is in Clearwater, Fla., to rehab his strained right quadriceps.
Bastardo stumbles
The Phillies bullpen allowed seven earned runs in the team's 24 games prior to Saturday. Then five of the six hitters to face Antonio Bastardo in a 10-3, Game 1 loss to Atlanta scored.
Bastardo had not walked a batter or permitted an earned run all month (111/3 innings). He retired the eighth inning's first hitter. Atlanta followed that with a walk, single, walk, single, and bases-clearing triple. Bastardo threw a first-pitch strike just twice.
Extra bases
Luis Garcia's ERA dropped from 15.75 to 12.71 despite another allowed run. His ERA is 0.38 in 21 games at triple-A Lehigh Valley. He threw two wild pitches Saturday. "He was missing his spots by quite a bit," Sandberg said. . . . Jason Marquis, a little more than 10 months removed from Tommy John surgery, pitched six shutout innings Friday at triple A. He struck out six. Marquis, 35, could provide rotation depth later. . . . Infielder Ronny Cedeno started Game 1 at shortstop and was outrighted to triple-A Lehigh Valley afterward. That cleared space for Game 2 starter Sean O'Sullivan.