For Jered Weaver, there was positive movement on Sunday, even if the results weren't all that impressive.

Getting five more outs than in his Cactus League debut, Weaver lasted 2 1/3 innings and 50 pitches against the Athletics, yielding three earned runs on six hits while striking out three men. He was touched for two runs on three hits in the first.

"I felt good," Weaver said. "It's coming along. That first inning, it took a while to settle in, but the second and third felt good. My offspeed stuff felt better this time, and my fastball had life."

Weaver was facing a quality A's lineup -- starting with Nomar Garciaparra and Orlando Cabrera at the top -- that banged out 14 hits in an 8-1 decision at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

Garciaparra singled and doubled in the first two innings of his A's debut, and Cabrera, who gives Oakland a quality No. 2 hitter, singled and popped up in two at-bats against Weaver, his former teammate.

Jack Cust, who homered later against Justin Speier, struck out looking at a Weaver fastball in the first and swung through a changeup on the big right-hander's final delivery.

"They said I had enough in the third inning," said Weaver. "I didn't even know what my pitch count was."

The A's lineup will get deeper and better when Matt Holliday and Jason Giambi join Ryan Sweeney, Cust and Co.

"Everybody wants to say they're our rivals in the [American League West], but we look at everybody the same way," Weaver said. "We always seem to battle them. They've added some veteran guys. They have some strength in their lineup.

"Everybody was [talking about] Seattle last year, and it didn't turn out that way. It's going to be interesting to see how it unfolds."

Weaver's spring began with shoulder stiffness. He's easing into it after looking like the reincarnation of Walter Johnson last spring, blazing his way toward an Opening Day start in Minnesota.

"His stuff looked very good," manager Mike Scioscia said. "It's just a matter of going out there and putting pitches together now. Obviously, the results aren't what you'd like to see, but his breaking ball, changeup were what we'd like to see.

"His location wasn't that far off. He took some steps forward. He got to 50 pitches, and his stuff was good."

Young guns Will Smith and Trevor Bell pitched perfect innings of relief after Weaver departed, while Matt Wilhite, Speier, Kevin Jepsen and Rich Thompson struggled to varying degrees.

On a quiet afternoon from an offense that has made a lot of noise, Kendry Morales doubled and singled twice, lifting his spring average to .412, and Mike Napoli launched a homer on a 3-0 pitch from Russ Springer.