"With the season about to get going for real, Hideki Matsui is coming alive.

Bob Geren, the A's manager, thought the team's new designated hitter had enjoyed his best batting practice of the spring Monday night. One of the Japanese reporters who follows Matsui was particularly impressed with Matsui's hitting before Tuesday night's game at the Coliseum.

Matsui put all of that into practice with a three-hit night in the A's 4-1 loss to the Giants, Matsui's first three-hit game of the spring.

All of his hits came off Giants starter Barry Zito, a left-hander. Matsui had recorded only one hit off a lefty during Cactus League play.

"He was jumping on the heater today," Zito said. "I left a few up in the zone. He got them today."

Matsui said it helped that Geren gave him the green light on a 3-0 pitch during his second at-bat, and he ripped it into right.

"It's a count in which you can swing hard and there's not a lot of variety of pitches you can get," Matsui said through translator Roger Kahlon.

Geren said that getting a couple of hits off a lefty can get a left-handed hitter locked in. For his part, Matsui said, "I was able to put some good swings on some hittable pitches.""