Battling infection, Crisp back in lineup

BALTIMORE -- Left fielder Coco Crisp, who had missed seven of the past eight games because of an ear infection, returned to the lineup on Friday against Baltimore and went 1-for-3 with a stolen base and a run scored in Oakland's 5-2 victory.

As a result, Melvin said Michael Taylor, who had joined the team in Baltimore on Friday as a precaution, will head back to Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday.

Taylor was batting .366 with two home runs and had hits in nine of his past 10 games for Sacramento.

Taylor said the key to his early success is keeping an even mindset and being confident in his ability to hit. He hopes to learn as much as he can in his time with the big league club.

"You learn to deal with adversity and success," Taylor said. "I think guys who have played up here for five, six or seven years have mastered that. It's always great to watch those guys have a bad at-bat and then come back and have a great one. Or, have a great at-bat and put it behind them. I think that is the consummate professional."