OAKLAND, Calif. — Even though he knew it was the best move to make, Tampa Bay right-hander Nathan Eovaldi was not happy when Kevin Cash pulled him after six innings. He even had to be prodded to shake his manager’s hand.

Coming off a second Tommy John surgery, Eovaldi understood why. He just didn’t like it at the time.

Eovaldi pitched six innings of no-hit ball in his return to the majors, leading the Rays to a 6-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night.

“I didn’t want to shake his hand,” Eovaldi said. “I haven’t gone seven innings in a really long time. So we played it safe and it was good. I would have liked to stay out there until I gave up a hit but I understand the situation as well.”

Eovaldi (1-0) routinely clocked in the high 90s with his fastball and faced one over the minimum through six innings in his Tampa Bay debut. He threw 70 pitches and had four strikeouts. The only runner to reach base against him was Matt Chapman, who drew a one-out walk in the first.

Cash said he debated sending Eovaldi out for the seventh.

“It was tough, there was no doubt, but we have to do what’s right by him,” Cash said. “He wanted to stay but realistically he’s not getting to the ninth inning. I’ll just blame [pitching coach Kyle Snyder]. I wanted to keep pitching him but Kyle told me to pull him.”

Eovaldi last pitched in the majors on Aug. 10, 2016, for the Yankees. Nine days later, he underwent a second elbow surgery. Eovaldi also had Tommy John surgery in 2007 when he was a junior in high school.

The 28-year-old missed the first month of this season after undergoing surgery March 30 to remove loose bodies in his elbow.

“It felt great being out there,” Eovaldi said. “I was so focused on just getting that first out. I was a little nervous out there. Then I was able to regroup and slow back down.”

Eovaldi, the 12th pitcher in major league history to start in the majors after having two Tommy John surgeries, induced seven groundouts and retired the final 17 batters he faced following the walk to Chapman.