ANAHEIM ---The Angels' matchup with the New York Mets may have been new, but there was something old and familiar Friday night at Edison Field.

David Eckstein was back at shortstop for the Halos and had the honor of taking the first knocks as their leadoff batter. His bunt attempt in his first at-bat was caught by Mets catcher Vance Wilson.

With Eckstein in the starting lineup for the first time since June 5 and with Darin Erstad back last Monday from a seven-week stay on the DL, the Angels had their Opening Day lineup intact Friday for the first time since the sixth game of the season.

Eckstein, whose left hand was bruised by a line drive during batting practice, was expected back Wednesday when the Angels played the Phillies. However, he remained sidelined by a stomach virus that he had contracted a day earlier.

"My stomach is doing okay," said Eckstein before Friday night's game. "I'm still not really eating, but I feel a lot better. I'm probably down about five pounds, but I'm okay.

"I'm very excited about being able to get back into the lineup," Eckstein said. "And my hand is doing fine and I'm able to go out there and swing."

Eckstein was pleased the way the team has turned things around as of late, winning four of their last five and nine of their last 12.

"The team went out there and they've done a real good job," he said. "The guys have won the last two series (actually the last four) and hopefully we can keep rolling like that and try to win every game we can."

Eckstein, who played in 152 games last season and 153 the year before, recalled the last time he missed a half dozen games.

"Last year I kind of bruised my knee and missed about the same amount of time." Eckstein said. "This was around the same time of year.

"I got rested and felt good when I got back last year," Eckstein said, "and hopefully that will happen again. Usually the adjustment is just getting back in there and facing live pitching."

Eckstein, who had a terrific regular season and post-season last year, is hitting .250 with two home runs and 14 RBIs this year.

Still, like Eckstein, Angels manager Mike Scioscia was glad to have his shortstop and leadoff hitter back.

"I think we're excited because I think the offensive continuity of our guys is important to this club," Scioscia said. "Eck has been banged up and was out of the leadoff spot for a while. I think it sets the rest of the club up if he leads off in front of Ersty (Darin Erstad) and Timmy (Salmon) and GA (Garret Anderson) and gets on base. It can set a tone for a lot of a lot of things we can do.

"It's good to get him back and hopefully he's going to stay strong and get back into his groove," Scioscia said.

Eckstein is still hopeful that the Angels will get on a major roll like they did last year, especially in the second half.

"The main thing for us is just to go out there and be consistent," said Eckstein. "We feel that if we do that and just worry about ourselves and worry about each game one at a time we have a chance to win."