ARLINGTON, Texas — All was quiet in the A’s clubhouse Thursday night, but not because of a 6-0 loss to the Texas Rangers.

Players were visibly shaken after a fan sitting in the left-field bleachers died from injuries suffered in a 20-foot fall during the second inning at Rangers Ballpark.

The fan was later identified as Brownwood, Texas, firefighter Shannon Stone by several news sources.

Several A’s relievers were in the visitors’ bullpen located in left-center, not far from where the incident happened.

Oakland’s Conor Jackson lined a foul ball into the left-field corner that ricocheted into fair territory. Rangers left fielder Josh Hamilton retrieved the ball and tossed it up to a male fan sitting in the first row behind the out-of-town scoreboard that’s built into the left-field wall.

The man lunged forward, and as he caught the ball with his bare hands, tumbled over a railing and fell headfirst to the concrete below.

The area where the man fell was behind the 14-foot-high scoreboard and out of sight from the field.

Shaken A’s reliever Brad Ziegler, who was consoled by his family members outside the clubhouse after the game, said the man was conscious as he was taken out of the stadium.

“It was me and (Craig) Breslow and (Joey) Devine,” Ziegler said while standing at his locker, his eyes still bloodshot. “They had him on a stretcher and were carrying him out. He was saying stuff, like, ‘Please check on my son.’ They had his arms splinted. You’re just assuming he was (going to be OK) — he was conscious and talking. To find out he’s not is tough.”

There was no break in game action, though Texas catcher Mike Napoli briefly motioned toward left field as it was apparent something had happened.

The man did have his son, a young boy, sitting next to him.

Ronnie Hargis, who was sitting next to Stone, said: “He went straight down. I tried to grab him, but I couldn’t. I tried to slow him down a little bit.”

A’s manager Bob Melvin said the tragic news began circulating through the dugout as the game unfolded.

“When you think you’ve had a bad day, something like that puts things in perspective,” Melvin said. “It’s devastating. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.”

The tragedy happened one year and one day after another man fell over a railing from the second deck at Rangers Ballpark. That man suffered a fractured skull. He also was a firefighter.

Rangers president Nolan Ryan, who had former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, sitting with him at the game, issued a statement passing along his condolences.

That news overshadowed another poor night by A’s hitters, as Texas lefty Derek Holland threw a four-hitter for his third career shutout.

The A’s, who have averaged 2.13 runs over their past 15 games, didn’t advance a runner past first base until the ninth.

Oakland is hoping to use this four-game series to make up ground on first-place Texas, but the A’s are now a season-high nine games back.

A’s starting pitcher Rich Harden was not sharp, lasting just five innings and giving up five runs on eight hits.

“It was the first game in a while that it just didn’t feel like we were in it,” Melvin said.

Left fielder Josh Willingham was activated from the D.L. earlier in the day and batted cleanup. Hideki Matsui slid into the No. 3 spot. Coco Crisp batted second behind Jemile Weeks, as Melvin said he likes the speed they offer.

The Rangers pecked away at Harden, scoring in all but the second inning against him. Ian Kinsler got things going right away, leading off the bottom of the first with a double and scoring on Hamilton’s grounder to short.

Hamilton notched four RBIs despite getting just one hit in four plate appearances. He singled a run home in the third and added two sacrifice flies. Michael Young hit a solo homer in the fifth.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.