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A's hope to have Holliday back in lineup

Apr 8, 2009 - 7:06 AM By Santosh Venkataraman Stats Senior Writer

Oakland (1-1) at LA Angels (1-1) 10:05 p.m. EDT

ANAHEIM, California (AP) -- The Oakland Athletics' new-look lineup flexed its muscles without the player who was probably their biggest offseason acquisition.

The Athletics hope to have Matt Holliday back in the lineup Wednesday night when they continue a four-game road series against the Los Angeles Angels.

Oakland lost Monday's season opener 3-0 as Holliday had a minimal impact with a single in four at-bats. The All-Star slugger was acquired in November from Colorado to bolster an offense that finished last in the AL with 646 runs in 2008.

Holliday sat out Tuesday's game because of an illness that hampered him on opening day. The Athletics are hopeful he will return Wednesday.

"He wasn't feeling well (Monday), either, but he wanted to play, and I thought he played well," manager Bob Geren told the Athletics' official Web site. "We're hoping he'll be OK to go (Wednesday)."

Geren moved Nomar Garciaparra up to Holliday's cleanup spot in the lineup. Garciaparra and Jason Giambi - both also acquired during the offseason - combined to go 5-for-10 in a 6-4 A's victory Tuesday.

Jack Cust and Ryan Sweeney each added three hits as part of a 16-hit attack for Oakland. Cust's single in the first inning scored Garciaparra with the first run of the season for the A's, who added on from there.

"You could just feel everybody kind of relax," Giambi said. "We pushed that first run across and it was like, 'OK, now we're on the board. Now we can go. We're not going to be shut out again.'

"Once we did that, I think everything started to take off."

Rookie Nick Adenhart will take the mound for Los Angeles. The 22-year-old right-hander made three starts last season for the Angels, going 1-0 with a 9.00 ERA.

"It was a lot of learning, realizing a goal and getting that first call-up," he said.

After that short stint, Adenhart was sent back to Triple-A Salt Lake, where he posted a 7.24 ERA the remainder of the season.

"In some ways, I think it was a step forward for Nick to get to the major leagues and to get a feel for it," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Overall, in a lot of parts of his game, he took a half step backward, but it shouldn't be that tough for him to regain where he can be."

The Angels are counting on innings from Adenhart due to injuries to John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar at the start of the season.

He made his major league debut on May 1, 2008 in a 15-8 loss to Oakland, and lasted only two-plus innings. He was tagged for five runs and three hits, but didn't receive a decision.

Oakland will start Dana Eveland, who begins his second season with the club. Eveland, who was acquired in the deal that sent Dan Haren to Arizona on December 14, 2007, went 9-9 with a 4.34 ERA in 29 starts last year for the A's.

The left-hander faced Los Angeles three times last season and failed to pitch past the sixth inning each time, going 0-2 with a 6.06 ERA.