"Hideki Matsui spent several minutes in the clubhouse Monday afternoon pounding his glove with a small wooden mallet. Then he used the end of a bat to pound it some more.

The Angels slugger got even more help breaking in the glove a few hours later when he started a second consecutive game in left field for the first time this season.

With Juan Rivera sidelined for a sixth consecutive game because of problems associated with blurry vision, Matsui was again an Angel in the outfield. He made a nice over-the-shoulder catch on the warning track in the second inning to rob A.J. Pierzynski of an extra-base hit.

But Manager Mike Scioscia said he anticipated using his primary designated hitter in the outfield on back-to-back days the rest of the season "only out of need."

"It doesn't necessarily mean we're going to play him out there more often because you always are running the risk of setting somebody back if you push things too much," Scioscia said.

Matsui has thrived at the plate in games he has started in left field, hitting .388 with four homers and 19 runs batted in in 49 at-bats after going 0 for 3 with a walk during the Angels' 9-2 loss to the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. He is hitting .229 with six homers and 27 RBIs in 231 at-bats as a designated hitter.

Asked about the discrepancy, Matsui said through an interpreter that before his balky knees forced him to become a designated hitter, "playing left field was a normal thing for me, a normal rhythm, so perhaps there might be something there related to that. But on the other hand, I've been DHing for a while and I'm pretty used to the routine.

"So honestly I'm not sure from my perspective why the numbers are what they are."

Scioscia said he hoped Rivera, who has been fitted with glasses to reduce glare, could return Tuesday."