TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui went 1-for-3, scored a run and looked sharp in the field in a rehab assignment with Class A Tampa on Friday.
It was the Japanese star’s first action since being placed on the 15-day disabled list April 8 because of a strained left hamstring.
“I think I’m close to 100 percent,” Matsui said through an interpreter.
Matsui, who started in left and batted third, will play again for Tampa on Saturday. He is expected to get simulated at-bats Sunday before being activated on Monday, when he likely will return to the Yankees lineup against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in nearby St. Petersburg.
Matsui’s hit, a leadoff single to center in the fourth, came on a 3-0 fastball. In his previous at-bat, he popped up a 1-1 pitch to second. Matsui hit a sharp grounder to first in his final at-bat and was doubled up.
“My timing might have been a little bit off, but I think I was my usual self out there,” Matsui said.
Matsui showed no lingering effects of the injury in the field. In the second, he turned and ran hard toward the leftfield wall to make an over-the-shoulder catch.
“I had no problems,” he said.
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