TORONTO _ This is the Dustin Fowler the A's were expecting to get when they acquired him from the Yankees in exchange for pitcher Sonny Gray at the deadline last season.
Fowler showed off his speed, and even some power by crushing his first career big-league home run, going 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base to help the A's to a 3-1 victory over the Blue Jays Friday.
Leading off the third inning, Fowler drilled a 1-0 fastball from Marco Estrada over the wall in left field for the first run of the game to put the A's ahead. That was the power.
The speed came in the seventh, when Fowler raced around to second for a double to right field that scored Chad Pinder and later scored on a double to left by Josh Phegley. Fowler also stole a base in the ninth after reaching on a walk, as he was involved in each of the A's three runs on the day.
Though Fowler's breakout game was encouraging, things continued to get worse for the A's pitching staff.
One day after Andrew Triggs was pulled in the third inning of his start and sent to Oakland for an MRI with right arm nerve irritation, Brett Anderson was removed even earlier with a strained left shoulder.
After a scoreless first inning, Anderson looked to be having trouble getting his arm loose as he was warming up for the bottom of the second when the training staff came out to check on him. He appeared to complain of some sort of issue with his left shoulder, and after consulting with trainer Nick Paparesta, the two walked off the field and into the clubhouse, with Anderson grabbing at his left shoulder as he placed his glove on top of his head in agony.
Josh Lucas, who arrived early Friday morning in Toronto after getting the call up from Triple-A Nashville, came on in relief of Anderson to begin the bottom of the second and pitched into the fifth in what was a very impressive outing.
The right-hander saved the A's bullpen by tossing 32/3 innings, allowing just a run on two hits and one walk with seven strikeouts.
Danny Coulombe, Chris Hatcher, Yusmeiro Petit, and Blake Treinen all kept the Blue Jays off the scoreboard as they combined to allow just two hits and two walks in 41/3 innings pitched. Treinen took over for Petit with two on and two outs in the eighth and recorded the final four outs for his ninth save of the season.
Anderson entered the night 0-2 with an 8.16 ERA in three starts this season. He's dealt with a number of injuries in the past, and if he misses time, It would make two starting pitchers in two consecutive days that are lost for an extended period of time, with Triggs having already been placed on the 10-day disabled list before the start of Friday's game.
