Jack Cust wasn't in the Oakland lineup Wednesday night in Tokyo.

The designated hitter/outfielder struck out four times on Opening Night, though that wasn't the reason he wasn't in the order for the second game of the season. It had more to do with the fact that manager Bob Geren wanted to get right-handed-hitting DH Mike Sweeney in against lefty Jon Lester along with right-handed-hitting Emil Brown in left. Those two hit fourth and fifth, respectively.

There are many around baseball who believe Cust will break the major league strikeout record of 199, set by Ryan Howard just last year. Adam Dunn had 195 in 2004 and 194 in 2006.

Cust struck out 164 times last year despite not joining the A's until early May. And asked about the possible strikeout record following his Golden Sombrero on Tuesday, Cust said, "If I stay on the pace I'm on now, I'm pretty sure I could have it by the All-Star break."

Strikeouts are a constant for Cust, as are walks and homers, to the point that those who see Cust regularly refer to a walk-strikeout-homer game as the "Jack Cust Hat Trick." A's director of Billy Owens said Wednesday that if Cust has the sort of season Howard and Dunn had in compiling their big strikeout totals, that would be totally fine with the A's. Cust walked 105 times last year, and he led the team with 26 homers.

With Sweeney around now, however, it's possible that Cust won't be in the lineup as often against left-handers. There's also a very strong chance that he will play the outfield more regularly, though he is not an adept fielder. So his season could be an interesting one to watch in terms of how it affects Oakland's fortunes: Will the strikeouts and defensive issues outweigh the walks and homers?

Sweeney started his first-ever regular-season game for Oakland and had a bloop single just before Brown's three-run homer, and he added a line-drive single in the seventh. Cust pinch hit in the sixth and walked.

A'S 5, RED SOX 1: Rich Harden hadn't started a game since July 7, and he's missed much of the past three seasons with injuries, but on Wednesday night at the Tokyo Dome, the Oakland right-hander demonstrated why he's still considered one of the most talented starters in the league. Harden, totally healthy now, didn't allow a hit until Mike Lowell's one-out single in the fourth, and he struck out nine in six innings.

Emil Brown had a rough first night with the A's on Tuesday, getting caught in a crucial rundown in the 10th inning when he thought the throw was going home. He later called it "a mistake, bad baserunning." On Wednesday, hitting behind fellow Royals teammate Mike Sweeney, Brown provided the A's biggest offensive moment with a three-run blast to left in the third inning off Jon Lester.

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