RUIZ HITS NET, BUT HE TAKES HIS HITS, ALSO.

Byline: Fred J. Robledo Staff Writer

Foreign players, particularly strikers and attacking players from Central America, say the toughest adjustment to make playing Major League Soccer is the physical marking aspect of the game.

To Carlos Ruiz's credit, he's handled the physical play well. He ranks among the league leaders in the ``fouls suffered'' category with a team-high 36. Unfortunately, Ruiz has become a bit of a flop artist, too, and referees have taken notice.

This concerns Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid, especially with the Galaxy finishing a home-and-home series tonight with San Jose at Spartan Stadium, where the field dimensions are the smallest in the league.

Ruiz will have no place to hide. In this game, he might get bounced around like a pinball.

``Earlier in the season, Carlos had a tendency to go down rather easily, and I think that's sort of a rap that's come upon him,'' Schmid said. ``But right now, I don't think he's getting a break. There are times when he's truly getting fouled and referees are not giving him a break, and that's disappointing to us and frustrating for him.

``We've told him just stand up there and take it and you will get the calls, but he's not getting the calls.''

Even so, Ruiz scored his 11th and 12th goals of the season Thursday, breaking a four-game goal-scoring slump. He's now tied with Dallas' Jason Kreis for the league lead in goals scored.

The concern from coaches such as San Jose's Frank Yallop is that Ruiz doesn't appear particularly dangerous for most of the game, but by the end he usually makes the difference.

``I like him; he's a good player,'' Yallop said. ``He doesn't need to be playing great to be dangerous, and that's a trait of quality strikers. We've got a guy like that in Ariel (Graziani).

``These are guys who seem not all involved that much, but give them a chance and all of a sudden they will put it away. You always have to keep your guard up and keep both eyes on players like that.''

GALAXY vs. SAN JOSE

Kickoff: 6 p.m., Spartan Stadium.

TV/Radio: Ch. 9; 1110-AM, 1020-AM (Spanish).

Matchup: Carlos Ruiz scored his 11th and 12th goals of the season in a 2-1 victory over San Jose on Thursday, moving the Galaxy within six points of the first-place Earthquakes and snapping a three-game losing streak against its Northern California rival, which beat L.A. in October's MLS championship. San Jose is riddled with injuries defensively, losing Ian Russell to a groin injury on Thursday. He joins regulars Jeff Agoos and Troy Dayak on the injured list.

-Fred J. Robledo

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GALAXY vs. SAN JOSE (see text)