A’s manager Bob Melvin woke up Thursday morning surely expecting to write in a different second baseman in his lineup card for Game 4 of the American League Division Series against the Astros after Tommy La Stella left Wednesday's game with a right elbow contusion.

But before the club even arrived to Dodger Stadium for pregame workouts on Thursday, La Stella, who less than 24 hours before was hit by a 90.6 mph sinker directly on his elbow and fell to the ground in pain, told A’s trainers that he was ready to play.

“I was surprised,” Melvin said. “I think the break we caught was that it wasn't an area that swells up. It's a little bit more about pain management. He's a really tough guy, so I had our training staff check in with him early this morning before he even got here, and he said he’s good to go.”

Keeping La Stella’s steady presence at the top of the lineup is a relief for the A’s. The second baseman connected on a solo homer in the first inning of Game 3 and was 2-for-3 in the game. He is hitting .273 (6-for-22) with one homer, one RBI and five runs scored in six games this postseason.

Prepping for Greinke

The A’s did not learn that the Astros would be starting Zack Greinke in Game 4 until Thursday morning, though given their vast history against the right-hander this season and in years past, it won’t take long for them to get up to speed.

Though Greinke has historically been a terror against the A's -- he’s 9-3 with a 2.92 ERA in 21 games (17 starts) vs. them -- Oakland had some hitters in Thursday’s lineup with good success against the veteran. Khris Davis was 5-for-11 lifetime with two home runs and two doubles against Greinke, while Ramón Laureano was 5-for-9 with a home run, triple and two doubles.

The big question is how long Greinke would be allowed to go in terms of workload. The right-hander experienced arm soreness on Tuesday and was checked by doctors in Los Angeles.

“He's not really a velocity guy, so I don't think that affects him,” Melvin said of Greinke’s arm soreness. “It's about how long he's going to be out there. We've seen him plenty this year, and he's had some good games against us. We've had some better games against him recently. But he's a very cerebral pitcher. He changes things up all the time -- a veteran that really knows how to pitch, so we have to get him to try to get them on the plate.”

In three games against Greinke during the regular season, A’s hitters had a slash line of .269/.300/.537 versus the righty.

“He tries to make you hit balls. We have to try to get him up in the zone,” Melvin said. “We'll feel him out. He usually changes his repertoire up a little bit for us. He's got a bunch of different pitches. But we gotta make sure that we swing at strikes today.”

Hendriks’ availability unknown

After Liam Hendriks tossed 37 pitches over three scoreless innings to close out a win in Game 3, Melvin was unsure of his closer’s status for Thursday. Though Hendriks deemed himself ready after Wednesday’s game, the A’s will periodically check in with Hendriks throughout the day before determining whether he is available to pitch on Thursday.

“We always take stock after they play catch and see how they feel,” Melvin said. “You can be pretty emotional after a game. Obviously, he is going to want to pitch today. Adrenaline's going to have a lot to do with it. We're not going to put him in a position where, if he's hurting, that we're going to send him out there. We'll talk to him quite a bit and see how he feels as the game goes along.”