Stewart works in cage with lingering soreness

ANAHEIM -- Angels third baseman Ian Stewart, out since last Sunday when he was struck on the left hand while swinging at an inside pitch from Aaron Loup in the seventh inning at Toronto, said he was making progress.

"I'm feeling a lot better, for sure," Stewart said of the injury, diagnosed as a contusion, which landed him on the DL. "I've been swinging a little bit in the cage, some soft-toss. The next step will be [hitting] out on the field."

He added that the hand was "still a bit tender in the cage, right on contact."

Stewart had ended a hitless streak at 0-for-24 with a triple off the wall in his previous at-bat.

"I was actually starting to feel good," he said. "The at-bat before, I was able to drive the ball, get a good swing on it."