ANGELS NOTEBOOK: G.A. SITS THIS ONE OUT.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA Staff Writer

OAKLAND -- Just over a week after saying his health was finally improving, Garret Anderson asked out of the lineup Friday.

Anderson, who has been dealing with a sore left arch since spring training, was unable to work soreness out of his hamstring and was given the night off.

``That's why I hesitate to say that stuff because that's probably how it felt that day,'' Anderson said of his recent declaration that he was feeling slightly better. ``It goes back and forth.''

Manager Mike Scioscia thinks Anderson's improving foot injury actually led to his most recent problem.

``He's been running better,'' Scioscia said. ``For a while, when his foot was sore, he was guarding a little bit and wasn't running with the same gait. Now he's working muscles that might not have been pushed as hard. It doesn't look like anything serious, but we'll give him a day.''

Asked if he might eventually go on the disabled list to give himself two weeks to rest, Anderson wasn't thinking about a move like that.

Musical lineups: When the lineup was first posted in the clubhouse, Anderson was the designated hitter and batting seventh. It would have been Anderson's first time at No. 7 this season, a spot that that 15 different Angels have occupied this season.

Tim Salmon was in left field in the original lineup and batting eighth. When the lineup was changed, he was moved to designated hitter and batted seventh.

Kendry Morales was batting ninth in the original lineup but was moved up to eighth when the changes were made. Juan Rivera was moved from center field to left and Tommy Murphy received the start in center and batted ninth.

It became the 68th different lineup the Angels have used in 86 games.

Weaver faces another new team: Jered Weaver will face the Oakland Athletics today, the sixth different team he will have faced in six major- league starts.

Weaver has defeated, in order, Baltimore, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Seattle.

Part of what makes Weaver so tough, according to opponents, is the deception in his twisting delivery. Shortstop Orlando Cabrera has said that some opponents are talking about that deception when they reach second base.