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Slumping Angels Hideki Matsui, Brandon Wood get Wednesday off

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Neither Hideki Matsui, who is mired in a 6-for-52 slump that has dropped his average from .310 on April 24 to .228, nor Brandon Wood, who is in a 3-for-30 slump that has dropped his average from .197 on May 1 to .168, were in the lineup for Wednesday afternoon’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Manager Mike Scioscia wanted to combine Wednesday with Thursday’s off day to give the 35-year-old Matsui two days off because ‘he’s been grinding a bit,’ Scioscia said.

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Matsui, who has been slowed for years by a pair of arthritic knees, said he has endured similar rough stretches in the past, but he couldn’t say for sure whether he is in the midst of a prolonged slump or if his career, like many players in their mid-30s, is in decline.

‘It’s probably something that, after a couple of years, you look back and say that age was part of the reason,’ Matsui said through an interpreter. ‘It’s something that I can’t 100% deny. Personally, I feel good. I don’t think that’s the reason. That’s my perspective.’

Scioscia said Matsui would return to the lineup Friday night against Oakland. Wood, however, may get a few extra days on the bench to clear his head.

‘Yeah, we’re going to explore everything we need to do with a young player,’ Scioscia said, when asked if Wood would get more than one game off. ‘He won’t pick up a bat for a day. We want him to stop pressing, to get rid of the anxiety.’

Wood said he has made strides in the batting cage, ‘but I need to get it to where those things that are happening in the cage are happening at 7 p.m.,’ he said. ‘It’s definitely been frustrating. I’m still hitting a buck-seventy. All I can do is work to get through it.’

-- Mike DiGiovanna

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