Holliday taking BP, working back from hamstring injury

ST. LOUIS -- Eight days after pulling his right hamstring while running out a ground ball, Matt Holliday remained out of the Cardinals' lineup due to continued hamstring discomfort.

Though Holliday has improved to the point where he's been able to take batting practice each of the past two days, the Cardinals left fielder said he still felt lingering tightness when trying to pass running tests on Friday afternoon. That meant that he would be watching his fourth straight game from the bench.

"I still feel a little bit in there," Holliday said. "We're going to see how [Saturday] goes and go from there."

Holliday responded with a "maybe" when asked if he expected to start during this weekend's series against San Diego, but he did leave open the possibility of being used as a pinch-hitter while he continued to heal. His availability off the bench on Friday was to be determined after Holliday received additional pregame treatment.

Though Holliday has now been out for more than a week, the Cardinals still want to try to avoid moving him to the disabled list. That's because a DL placement would necessitate that Holliday sit out, at minimum, seven more games.

"He was talking about being able to [run at] 80-90 percent," manager Mike Matheny said on Friday. "There is still a little more that we wanted to see, so another day should help. We want to make sure we don't go backwards."