Hideki Matsui will likely be a designated hitter when the New York Yankees open the playoffs Thursday at Cleveland. Matsui hit just .185 in September with two homers and 12 RBIs and had fluid drained from his right knee on Sunday in New York. Yankees manager Joe Torre said Monday that Johnny Damon could start in left field and that he also was thinking about using rookie Shelley Duncan, a right-handed hitter, against C.C. Sabathia in Game 1.