OAKLAND -- Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher joked Friday that "disabled list" wasn't in his vocabulary. He followed up Saturday by asking "What's that mean, anyway?"

Swisher won't be playing until the Yankees hit Seattle on Monday, at the earliest, but still expects he will be out for just a few days. An MRI on of Swisher's left leg Saturday morning near the Oakland Coliseum revealed what's being called a mild left hip flexor strain -- the result Swisher and manager Joe Girardi expected.

"It's tight. Walking around good," said Swisher on Saturday afternoon, after he was hurt running to first on a seventh-inning groundout Friday. "I know you guys want a timetable. I wish I could tell you, but I just don't know. We'll go in here and hang out with [head trainer Steve Donohue]. Me and Stevie haven't been hanging out very much lately."

Said Girardi after a 2-1 loss to the A's Saturday night: "He has a mild strain. He's still day to day. He's not going to play tomorrow and I don't know if we'll see him in Seattle. We'll just see how he responds to treatment."

Swisher sustained a quad contusion in June, but said "that was on the outside, this is more on the inside." He also indicated he won't need to be at 100 percent to return to the field.

"I feel like I'm one of those guys that I can play through a lot of pain," Swisher said. "I've got to take these next couple of days off, just chill out, and we'll see what happens in Seattle."

Swisher's injury in reality may be slightly different than a hip flexor strain. He said Friday he felt the injury was more in his quad area, and both Swisher and Girardi indicated Saturday night that it was being termed a hip flexor strain for simplicity's sake.

"I think what they're calling it is a mild hip flexor strain," Swisher said. "I think that's what everybody's on board saying."

Said Girardi: "That's not the muscle that they call it. Ask -- I'm going to say it's the hip flexor."

Dewayne Wise started in right field and batted ninth Saturday. Girardi said the Yankees are OK to play short for a bit.

"In the meantime, we're OK because we have Wisey," Girardi said. "We're OK there. It's something we're just going to have to deal with over the next couple days."

Cano goes hitless to end 23-game streak

OAKLAND -- Robinson Cano's career-high hitting streak ended at 23 games on Saturday night, victim to another strong pitching performance from the A's.

He said the streak was not on his mind as he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

"Honestly, no," said Cano, who hit .400 (36-for-90) during the streak. "I just go out there and try to get a hit every at-bat. I don't put it in my mind that I've got a hitting streak or something like that. But I go out there and try to get on base."

Cano had the longest active streak in the Majors and the longest for the Yankees since Derek Jeter's 25-game run from Aug. 20-Sept.16, 2006.

Cano's last chance came in the ninth inning, with none out and the tying run on first base as the Yankees fell to Oakland, 2-1. Cano struck out swinging against left-hander Sean Doolittle, whose ball Cano said "just moved a little bit." Doolittle threw only fastballs to Cano in a five-pitch at-bat.

Jarrod Parker, a 23-year-old rookie right-hander, went eight innings for the A's and retired Cano in his first three trips. Shadows might have played a part in the low-scoring game, particularly during Cano's first two at-bats, but he said he didn't want to make excuses.

"They're throwing their pitches whenever they want," Cano said of Oakland's staff. "They're throwing a lot of strikes. Like I say, you have to give them credit."

Girardi reflects on relationship with Santo

OAKLAND -- Like so many from and in the Chicago area, Yankees manager Joe Girardi holds Ron Santo in the highest regard. Santo, who passed away in 2010, will be enshrined into the Hall of Fame in a ceremony Sunday.

"As a kid, I idolized, went to the ballpark, ate Ron Santo pizza," Girardi said Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum. "Had a chance to really get to know [him] since I was a player and he was a broadcaster. We'd go out in the winter, him and his wife Vicky, go out for dinner. He would throw BP to me at Northwestern. Got in trouble one day for bringing his dog. ... I really miss him, but I'm happy for the family on this day."

Girardi, was born in Peoria, Ill., and played for the Cubs from 1989-92 and 2000-02.

Joba expected to pitch Tuesday with Tampa

OAKLAND -- Yankees right-hander Joba Chamberlain's next rehab game will likely come Tuesday, with the Class A Advanced Tampa Yankees for a second straight outing.

Chamberlain's made four rehab appearances so far, and his first above rookie ball came on Friday when he made a two-inning start for Tampa in Bradenton, Fla. He gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, the only run he allowed.

"At this point, obviously you'd like him to get every out you can get," Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild said. "But we're aware of what you need to do to get here. And he's got to stay healthy."

Chamberlain is coming back from elbow and ankle surgeries, and his rehab has gone well so far. He will need to pitch on back-to-back days and at one or both of Double-A and Triple-A before returning.

"Everything has went pretty smoothly," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "The fact that he's been able to throw two innings has been good. I think he threw 32 pitches yesterday and he used all his pitches, so I don't see how it could have really went any better."