Kemp aims to return to Braves lineup Sunday

Braves left fielder Matt Kemp expects to return to the lineup on Sunday. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

Braves left fielder Matt Kemp expects to return to the lineup on Sunday. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

It appears Braves left fielder Matt Kemp will avoid a disabled-list stint for the left hamstring injury that forced him to leave a game at the Nationals on Wednesday.

Kemp ran on the field and took some swings in the batting cage before Saturday’s game against the Marlins. He wasn’t in the lineup for a second consecutive day, but said he would be available off the bench against the Marlins and expects to return to the lineup Sunday.

“I would be good with (Sunday), but sometimes that’s not my decision,” Kemp said. “I wanted to try to play today, but (the trainers) were like, ‘One more day.’ With these (hamstrings), they are tricky. I don’t want to go back on the DL.”

A right hamstring sent Kemp to the DL in April. He said the most recent hamstring injury is “just a little tightness, nothing like the last time.”

Entering Saturday, Kemp’s .327 batting average ranked seventh-best in the NL.