Lowrie held out of starting lineup with contusion

ARLINGTON -- Infielder Jed Lowrie's bruised right foot was sore enough to keep him out of the starting lineup in Texas on Wednesday, but not enough for his manager to rule him out of entering the game at some point.

"He won't be pinch-running today, let's put it that way," Oakland's Bob Melvin said. "But as I'm sitting here right now, I'd hate to say there's no chance of using him in an emergency. Certainly we'll try to stay away from him, though."

There was no such emergency in Oakland's 3-1 loss, and even if there was, Lowrie likely couldn't have offered much help, since his foot was so bruised that he couldn't fit it in a cleat.

Lowrie was serving as designated hitter on Tuesday night when he took a Yu Darvish pitch off his foot in the fifth inning. He was taken out of the game for a pinch-hitter in the seventh to go for X-rays that proved negative.

Melvin is hopeful that, with Thursday's off-day, Lowrie will be able to rest his foot enough to be ready to return to the starting lineup Friday in Houston.

"I just want to play," he said. "I want to be out there as quickly as I can, but I can't really give a timetable because I don't know when the swelling is going to go away."

Lowrie entered the day 4-for-8 on the road trip, with his season average on the road up to .337.