"A's starter Dallas Braden hasn't hidden his admiration for the A's new designated hitter, Hideki Matsui, so he was tickled that Matsui made his Oakland spring debut in a game Braden started.

Braden found it even better that Matsui's first appearance came against his former team, the Angels.

"It's like buying a Ferrari from someone else, then putting on a new paint job," Braden said. "You want to go out and honk the horn and have the guy you bought it from say, "Dang, that looks pretty great. Yeah, he looks better in green and gold.' "

Matsui didn't do anything really extraordinary Monday in the A's 8-7 loss at Tempe Diablo Stadium, but he did come up in precisely the situation the team would like him to hit all year: In the fifth inning, he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs.

The Angels decided to make a pitching change, substituting left-hander Matt Meyer for righty Matt Palmer, but Meyer couldn't find the strike zone.

Matsui walked on four pitches, driving in Oakland's first run.

"They were pretty much balls," Matsui said through translator Roger Kahlon when asked if anything was even close.

Was he disappointed he got nothing to hit? "Not necessarily," he said. "I was able to walk. That's a good result."

As for making his A's debut against the Angels, Matsui said, "I guess it was a little bit awkward. But a year and a half ago, they were opponents.""