Marco

Scutaro

He had missed the A’s last two games with a slight tear of the ligament in his right pinkie finger.

Scutaro drove in a pair while also singling and doubling. The win moves the Athletics to 58-51, giving them a 2 1/2 game lead over Texas in the AL West.

The A’s would likely prefer to use Scutaro regularly while Mark Ellis is out, but they’ll have to go with a mix until Scutaro breaks out of this slump. He finished May with two hits in 38 at-bats.

He was starting in place of Bobby Crosby, who re-injured his back Monday. Scutaro is now batting .245 and this performance can’t hurt, especially if Crosby winds up back on the DL.

He’s likely be rewarded by losing most of his at-bats, as Bobby Crosby could be activated from the disabled list prior to Wednesday’s game. Scutaro is hitting .245 with 30 RBI in 233 at-bats this season.

Lowrie missed 45 games earlier this year with a deeply bruised nerve that sapped most of the strength in his shoulder. He’s hitting just .213 since returning and has often been limited to pinch-hitting duty. “It got to the point where I wasn’t being helpful, productive, for the team, so I needed to do something about it,” Lowrie said. “I didn’t have any other choice. It was either shut it down for the year or get this shot and hope to play and do what I can to help the team win this year.” Marco Scutaro should get most of the starts at shortstop down the stretch.

He accounted for seven of Boston’s 23 runs, scoring five and knocking in two. He now owns a season-high .298 batting average, which is 16 points above his previous high from 2009. With a 27-for-64 (.422) September mark, the 35-year-old has made more contributions lately than several of his higher priced teammates.

It’s tempting to read into, but Scutaro has often struggled through tough springs before getting it together in April. He remains an intriguing fantasy option in the thin air of Denver.

This will be Scutaro’s first spring in the Cactus League since 2007, when he was a member of the A’s. He will spend his age-36 campaign as the Rockies’ starting second baseman.

The Rockies’ new shortstop now leads the majors this spring with 15 bases on balls. As long as he finds ways to set the table this season, Colorado’s big hitters should be able to get him home.