Matthews has ‘small tear’ in knee

Angels outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. hopes to avoid surgery after Dr. Lewis Yocum diagnosed him Saturday with what Matthews called “a small tear” in the patella tendon of his left knee.

Manager Mike Scioscia said late Saturday he had not consulted with the team’s medical staff to determine whether Matthews would be put on the disabled list. Matthews said he hoped he could continue to play through an accelerated treatment program of medication and strength training.

Surgery would require four to six months of rehabilitation, Matthews said. He said Yocum did not recommend surgery and said he would not consider it, even in the off-season, unless the injury worsens.

“If it blows out and becomes detached from the knee, you have no choice,” Matthews said.

Matthews, who was benched earlier this month in favor of Juan Rivera, said he had been playing with what he considered tendinitis all season but said, “This is the first time I’ve heard the words ‘small tear.’ ”

General Manager Tony Reagins said Matthews had experienced discomfort in the knee “since last season,” and Scioscia kept Matthews out of the field for a large part of spring training.

Said Scioscia: “It’s something he’s tried to manage this year. Now that he’s getting a little bit of a breather, it’s a good time to evaluate it a little further.”

Matthews, 33, is in the second year of a five-year, $50-million contract. He is batting .235, with a .310 on-base percentage and .350 slugging percentage.

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Trouble afield

Torii Hunter, whose arrival as a free agent pushed Matthews out of center field, said the injury could explain why Matthews has struggled this season.

“If you don’t have your legs, you don’t have anything,” Hunter said. “You’ve got to fight. That’s all he’s been doing in the first half. He’s been fighting. You knew something was wrong.”

Danger afield

Another broken bat, another player barely avoiding injury: This time, the player was Boston shortstop Jed Lowrie, who dodged both a ground ball hit by Rivera and a flying piece of Rivera’s bat, on a play that was scored an infield single.

“Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the bat fly over my shoulder,” Lowrie said. “You’re trying to make an aggressive play and, at the same time, your instincts take over, because something is flying in the air at you.

“I’ve had bats come at me, but never like that. I mean, we were on the back of the infield, and it was still coming hard, flipping and coming at us. I’ve never had one like that, where you’re that far from the plate and it’s still flipping around.”

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Guest star

Angels reliever Justin Speier introduced the lineups for Fox wearing a black leather jacket and his white uniform pants, doing his best impression of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Speier called catcher Jeff Mathis “no girlie man” and described outfielder Garret Anderson as the “longest-tenured Californian.”

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Short hops

Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth inning for his 39th save, tops in the majors, in the process lowering his career earned-run average against the Red Sox to 0.90. . . . The Angels improved to 38-18 against teams with winning records. . . . Today’s game starts at 3 p.m. to facilitate ESPN’s schedule.

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Times staff writer Chris Hine contributed to this report.

bill.shaikin@latimes.com