Hamilton out of lineup for third straight game

MINNEAPOLIS -- Angels cleanup hitter Josh Hamilton woke up Sunday morning feeling good enough to be re-inserted in the lineup, but was scratched about an hour before game time and missed his third straight start with an ailment that has moved from his AC joint to his trapezius muscle.

"He felt good in the first round of [batting practice]," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said before the Angels' 14-4 win, "and then it just started to stiffen up a little bit."

Hamilton exited Thursday's game in the middle of the eighth inning with a sore AC joint in his right shoulder, an ailment that began in Houston on Tuesday and flared up while fielding a liner off the wall in Thursday's second inning, prompting him to receive a cortisone shot and miss games on Friday and Saturday.

On Sunday, Hamilton received a couple of trigger-point injections to loosen up some of the knots in his right trap. He's encouraged by the fact that his AC joint is fine, but his status is still very much day-to-day.

"Hopefully, I wake up tomorrow and feel great," said Hamilton, batting .263 with 10 homers and 44 RBIs in 88 games. "That would be the ideal thing."