Ruiz believes he'll avoid DL

Carlos Ruiz hit in the cage Saturday morning. He took full batting practice with the rest of the Phillies prior to today's game, spraying line drives all over the Rogers Centre and hitting a BP home run, too.


About 15 hours after leaving Friday night's game with a left oblique strain, Ruiz said he felt fine Saturday morning. He said it was more of a cramp, not a strain.

Although Phillies management and the medical staff contradicted that later today - they said it is a strain, that a person cannot have a cramp in the oblique area - it appears Ruiz is OK. He'll be reevaluated when the Phils return to Philly Monday.

"I had an oblique problem in Colorado last year or a couple years ago and I know how it feels," said Ruiz, who missed 21 days with oblique strain in 2009. "I think this is more like a cramp, you know This is more like a cramp. That’s what I feel. They want to make sure that I’m OK. Today when I woke up, maybe I was a little sore. But I feel good. I’m ready to go. We’ll see how it goes."

Q: Does it make sense to take tomorrow off, too, since you guys are off Monday?

Ruiz: "I don’t know. We had a plan to catch today, but maybe they’re going to give me today off and I’ll be back tomrrow."

Q: You must be relieved, huh?

Ruiz: "Yeah, definitely I was worried. Because you can lose at least two weeks and sometimes more than that. So I’m happy that I feel good."

Q: Did you think it was bad after the last at-bat last night?

Ruiz: "I felt it, and it was there for most of the night. Like, it was real tight. But today I woke up and I feel great."