Matsui will be a spectator in Game 3

Joe Girardi confirmed that Johnny Damon will start in left field for Game 3. While he didn’t make it official, this all but guarantees that Hideki Matsui

While Nick Swisher and Damon have batted a combined .176 with two home runs and six RBI during the postseason, Matsui has been one of the club’s most reliable contributors, batting .278/.422/.472 out of the No. 5 hole, including a go-ahead solo home run against Pedro Martinez in Game 2. However, his surgically-repaired knees will have him relegated to the bench.

“We’ll use him in a role to pinch hit when we feel that he can be most valuable to us,” Girardi said. “It might be a situation where you might think about a double switch, but you don’t want to lose his bat.”

Matsui hasn’t played a single game in the field all season, and when asked if he would be capable of doing so, his answerwasn’t very encouraging.

“I can’t tell you what my confidence level would be,” he said through interpreter Roger Kahlon. “My knees are pretty calmed down right now, in that sense I feel pretty good.”

“I haven’t been in the outfield in more than a year. I have to see how I feel once I get out there.”

Girardi is surely hoping that the Yanks can chase Cole Hamels early and he won’t even have to worry about using Godzilla.