OAKLAND -- The Rangers could actually relax after Monday night’s 6-1 loss to the A's at the Oakland Coliseum, knowing that shortstop Elvis Andrus had avoided serious injury.

Andrus was hit on his right hand by a pitch from A’s starter Chris Bassitt during the first inning. The scene prompted immediate and unpleasant memories of April 11, 2018, when Keynan Middleton of the Angels threw a pitch that fractured Andrus’ right elbow and sidelined him for more than two months.

This time, however, X-rays were negative, showing no fracture.

“I’m not going to lie. That was the first thing that came to my mind,” Andrus said, referring to last year’s injury. “I was like, ‘No way. I can’t go [with] broken bones in my body.’ But ... I wasn’t concerned because I had a lot of strength in my hand. If I squeezed something, it didn’t bother me as much. My fingers were fine.”

Andrus acknowledged that he felt lucky, because Bassitt’s pitch struck him on the meaty side of his hand.

“If it hits you on the top [of the hand] or down to the wrist, it’s a broken bone for sure,” Andrus said. “That was the best that could have happened in that situation.”

Andrus remained in the game until the seventh, when Patrick Wisdom batted for him. Wisdom proceeded to double home Texas’ lone run.

The Rangers could ill afford to lose Andrus, who’s batting .354/.404/.561 in 21 games.

“I think he’s going to be fine,” manager Chris Woodward said. “Just a hand contusion that was swelling up late in the game. It was hard for him to hold the bat. It was going to be difficult to have an at-bat at that point. We just decided for precautionary reasons to get him out of there.”

Rangers starter Mike Minor departed after he yielded four runs on four hits in six innings. Minor shut out the Angels in his previous outing and said that he felt better before this game than he did prior to that gem.

Minor issued three walks, which, in his mind, demonstrated his ineffectiveness.

“I couldn’t locate the fastball, really,” Minor said. “Slider wasn’t there, and the changeup was kind of flat. I was kind of misfiring all night. Tonight, I was getting too upset. ... I couldn’t make a quality pitch whenever I needed it.”