Andrus stays in A's win after scary collision with Marte

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The Athletics needed to get out of Chicago quickly before anyone else got hurt.

Veteran shortstop Elvis Andrus was the latest to suffer what initially appeared like a painful injury in the A's 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on Thursday.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Jose Abreu lofted a fly ball to shallow center field. Andrus and Starling Marte converged on the ball. Neither heard the other calling for the ball and the two veteran players collided in a scary moment for the A's.

White Sox catcher Zack Collins scored from first base, and Andrus stayed face down in the outfield for several minutes. A's manager Bob Melvin and the team's training staff checked on Andrus, and eventually, he remained in the game for the final out.

Replays show that Marte inadvertently clotheslined Andrus in the throat in his attempt to catch the ball.

Shortly after the win, A's manager Bob Melvin provided an update on what he saw, and how he believed Andrus was doing at that moment.

"I think he's all right," Melvin said on a video conference call. "He got hit in the throat. Elvis probably was just out there a good bit, you know, trying to make a play if we're playing deep in the outfield. I hope he's OK."

For the time being, it appears Andrus avoided any sort of serious injury, but the collision with Marte came two days after A's ace Chris Bassitt suffered two facial lacerations and a displaced tripod fracture in his right cheek after being hit by a line drive on Tuesday night. The good news for Bassitt is that his vision wasn't affected by the comebacker. The 2021 AL All-Star will undergo surgery sometime next week.

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If Andrus did in fact suffer a substantial injury and is forced to miss time, the A's could recall Vimael Machín to handle shortstop duties.

Andrus and the A's head home having salvaged the final game of the four-game series in Chicago. On Friday, they begin a pivotal three-game series against the MLB-best Giants.

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