"Jason Bay was on the bench again yesterday, but this time it wasn't because he has been rotten at the plate.

Manager Terry Collins decided to sit the left fielder because he was still dealing with a tight right hamstring, but the manager expected Bay to be able to play tonight in Florida. Bay wasn't quite as certain.

"I've got to test it out," Bay said after yesterday's 6-2 loss to the Cardinals at Citi Field. "Before the game [tonight], I'll have to run to first. It's the first couple of steps out of the [batter's] box that are the toughest and the time I'd feel it most, so we'll see how it is."

He suffered the injury last week against the Phillies, when he tripped over Ryan Howard's foot at first base, running out an infield hit.

"It's better than it was [Wednesday], but I still didn't do anything on it," Bay said. "I just rested it. I won't really know how it is until I run full-bore on it."

Collins and Bay agreed the injury had nothing to do with his recent slide, since he was struggling even before that.

"I wish it were that simple," said Bay, who has just four hits in his last 37 at-bats (.108)."