OAKLAND -- Catcher Sean Murphy was removed from Wednesday’s 8-1 loss to the Astros after getting hit by a foul tip in the fourth inning. He was replaced by Aramis Garcia to begin the top of the fifth.

Murphy stayed down on his hands and knees for a few minutes after a foul ball off the bat of Alex Bregman caught him near his left ear, which produced a cut and some blood from the impact. After consulting with manager Bob Melvin and head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta, who wiped some of the blood off Murphy’s ear, the catcher remained in the game and finished the inning.

Melvin said the move was made out of precaution, feeling uncomfortable with the accumulation of shots Murphy had taken throughout the night. He recalled two other hard foul balls that hit off Murphy’s mask. The foul tip by Bregman bounced off his left shoulder before scraping the ear.

“No concussion or headache at all,” Melvin said. “But with three blows like that, we just didn’t want to take any chances after the third one.”

Though Murphy is considered day to day, Melvin said there is a chance he could play in Thursday’s series finale against Houston. The 26-year-old backstop is batting .214 with five homers and 18 RBIs on the season after hitting an RBI double in the second against Zack Greinke.

Austin Allen, who has already seen some time with Oakland this year when Garcia was on the injured list earlier this month, would likely be first in line to get the call up from Triple-A should Murphy have to miss time.