Lowrie rejoins lineup after battling tight hamstring

OAKLAND -- For the first time since Sunday, shortstop Jed Lowrie returned to the A's starting lineup for Oakland's series finale against the Angels on Wednesday afternoon.

Lowrie exited Sunday's contest against the Rangers in Texas with right hamstring tightness and was held out of the lineup the following two days. He entered Tuesday night's game in the ninth inning as a pinch-hitter.

"He's good to go today," manager Bob Melvin said. "It's always important to get him in there, but we do have some guys to pick up the slack when he's out. You want to make sure you don't push a guy too far at this point in the year, and giving him almost two full days off hopefully helped that."

Lowrie entered the day hitting .284, though he's batting just .196 over his last 14 games after compiling a .386 clip with 10 doubles over his previous 14 games. He made his team-leading 61st start in the No. 3 hole Wednesday.