Bobby Crosby was set at shortstop with the A's before the 2008 season, one of several reasons the A's traded backup infielder Marco Scutaro to Toronto, along with the fact that the club generally doesn't pay top dollar for backups and Scutaro was nearing $1 million a year.
Now Scutaro is starring for the Blue Jays, while Crosby is a $5.25 million backup for the A's, something that was highlighted early in Friday's game between the A's and Toronto when Scutaro smacked his fourth home run of the season. Crosby, however, wound up having a major say in the game. Playing third, a position he'd never handled until this spring when the A's signed Orlando Cabrera to be the everyday shortstop, Crosby looked more comfortable than he had in previous games, and he said afterward he'd just started to feel OK there in the team's previous game.
More relaxed on defense, Crosby also contributed offensively. He entered the day batting .100, but he stepped up in the fourth inning with Oakland trailing 5-1 and he drilled a 2-0 pitch from David Purcey into left center for a three-run triple.
Manager Bob Geren praised Crosby's alertness in getting to third when his drive hit the out-of-town scoreboard and died on the track; that put Crosby in position to tie the game on a wild pitch by Purcey.
A'S 8, BLUE JAYS 5: LF Matt Holliday hit an RBI double to put the A's ahead in the seventh, and the Oakland bullpen did the rest. Relievers Andrew Bailey, Michael Wuertz, Santiago Casilla and Brad Ziegler combined for five scoreless innings after starter Josh Outman surrendered five runs in the game's first four innings.
