One first baseman returned while another went down for the A’s on Friday night.

After appearing in each of the first eight games of the season, Mitch Moreland was held out of Friday’s lineup against the Astros with a sore right hamstring. Meanwhile, Matt Olson, who returned to action on Thursday as the designated hitter after missing the previous two games due to a left knee contusion, was in the lineup at first base for the first time since Monday.

Moreland’s hamstring issue is not considered to be too serious. Manager Bob Melvin said he expects the 35-year-old veteran to be available off the bench if a possible pinch-hit opportunity arises Friday. But after filling in at first base for Olson over the past two days, Moreland’s day off appeared to be about getting a chance to rest his body, with Seth Brown getting a start as the designated hitter.

“He’s played a little bit more first base recently than maybe we had thought he would early in the season,” Melvin said. “He’s had a significant workload. It just tightened up a little bit on him during the game yesterday. We’ll give him today off.”

One of many hitters in the A's lineup to get off to a slow start at the plate, Moreland had collected a hit in each of the A's previous two games, including a walk-off single in Wednesday's extra-innings victory over the Dodgers. With the team’s first off-day of the season coming on Sunday, Melvin said Moreland could return to the lineup before then as the designated hitter in Saturday’s series finale against Houston.

Fiers update
Mike Fiers (lumbar strain) will make his second rehab appearance at the A's alternate training site in Stockton, Calif., on Saturday. The right-hander is scheduled to throw four innings in a scrimmage game against members of the Giants’ alternate training site.

After Saturday’s outing, Melvin said he expects Fiers to throw two more times at the alternate site. That puts the veteran in line to return to the A’s rotation at some point during the final week of April.