Hideki Matsui strains his hamstring

Hideki Matsui was put on the 15-day disabled list by the New York Yankees, after he had strained his left hamstring.

Photo: Hideki Matsui strains his hamstring

New York planned to recall Kevin Thompson from Triple-A Scranton of the International League.

"When you play baseball this long, these things happen. There's nothing you can do about it," Matsui said through a translator.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said an MRI exam showed blood near the injury.

"It's something we just don't want to play with," Cashman said. "Our experience is that it usually takes 15 days or so."

After playing in 1,768 consecutive games with the Yomiuri Giants (1,250) and the Yankees (518), Matsui was sidelined from May 11 to Sept. 12 last year with a broken left wrist.

New York is short on outfielders. Center fielder Johnny Damon hasn't started since last Monday's opener because of a strained right calf but did enter in the late innings Saturday and Sunday.