OAKLAND, Calif. -- Anyone who has been around Ron Washington for any period of time knows the Texas Rangers manager is all about solid fundamentals over flash.

But when it comes to Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus making throws from mid-air, Washington has no qualms with the style -- as long as the results are there.

“As long as he doesn’t do it on routine backhands, I’m good with it,” Washington said before the Rangers’ game in Oakland on Monday night. “On routine backhands, plant and throw. The ones he does that on, they are not routine. He has no choice.”

The discussion came a day after Andrus made another spectacular play against the Los Angeles Angels. He went far to his right to grab Mark Trumbo’s grounder, leapt into the air and threw to first to nail Trumbo.

“His momentum was taking at such a pace to get the ball it was the only way he could make it,” Washington said.

It’s a play that New York Yankees Derek Jerek popularized. Although many shortstops in today’s game watched Jeter, Andrus is one of the few shortstops with the athleticism to pull it off.

“This is his third year doing it,” Washington said. “He didn’t do that his rookie year. This shows you how this kid sees and learns and how he can apply it. He’s seen Jeter do it before he got to the big leagues. He does it like it’s his. I’ve only seen one throw he made that was in the dirt. Other than that it was right on the money.”

Notes:

* Nelson Cruz’s monster homer Sunday was further encouragement for Washington that his right fielder is regaining the consistency he had lost earlier this season. Cruz was batting .216 on May 6, but since then he’s hit .330 with six homers in 14 games.

Last week Washington promoted Cruz from seventh to sixth in the order, which Washington said was also a function of David Murphy’s struggles.

“We know Nelson is going to have his days, we just like to see him more consistency and I’m more than certain he would too,” Washington said. “He seemed to be pretty happy (batting sixth) yesterday so I left him there.”

* The Rangers have been successful on 21 of their past 23 stolen-base attempts, a 91.3-percent rate. They began the season successful in just 20 of 31 (64.5 percent) attempts.

* Rangers pitchers did not allow a hit in the first three innings in any of the games over the weekend in Anaheim. The Angels were 0-for-28.

* The Rangers may not see Manny Ramirez this week in Oakland. Although the embattled slugger is now eligible to come back from his 50-game suspension, the A’s are still waiting for him to find his swing at Triple-A Sacramento. He’s also been battling some leg tightness.