The Blue Jays will search for improved offense on Thursday night in Toronto when they clash with the struggling Athletics to open a seven-game homestand.

Toronto is returning from a 2-4 road trip in which it scored a total of six runs. The Blue Jays took two of three games from the Texas Rangers to start this week despite scoring only four runs in a series between two offensively challenged teams.

The Rangers’ only hit in a 2-0 loss on Wednesday came leading off the first inning. The Blue Jays won the game on a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning by Bo Bichette, who did not start so that he could rest a tight lower back.

Daulton Varsho batted in Bichette’s leadoff spot with Anthony Santander hitting second and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. moved from second to third. The shuffled lineup did little to improve Toronto’s offense that continued to struggle until Bichette came off the bench.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider said the lineup change was not planned. However, he added, “We’ll see how it rolls out and see how guys do in certain spots.”

Varsho and Santander each went 0-for-4, but Guerrero finished 2-for-3 with a walk to extend his career-best on-base streak to 28 games.

Nathan Lukes and Addison Barger also had two hits each, but Toronto went 1-for-9 hitting with runners in scoring position to finish the series 1-for-31 in those situations.

“You’ve got to keep getting traffic, and you have to trust the guys to get the hits,” Schneider said. “It takes one to kind of get it going, but you’ve got to trust that it will.”

Bichette’s blast was enough for the Blue Jays to win the series against the Rangers after being swept in a three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Blue Jays pieced together a bullpen game on Wednesday by using Paxton Schultz, Eric Lauer, Braydon Fisher, Brendon Little and Jeff Hoffman. Toronto pitchers yielded just four baserunners (the leadoff single and three walks) while striking out 13.

The Athletics will be trying to shake a 1-13 drought when they begin the four-game series in Toronto. The A’s lost 5-3 to the Astros on Wednesday as they started their six-game road trip with two defeats in Houston.

The Athletics failed to take advantage of Luis Severino’s solid six-inning start on Wednesday. Severino permitted just two runs (one earned) and recorded career strikeout No. 1,000 before exiting with the A’s up 3-2. Rookie reliever Justin Sterner allowed three runs in the seventh inning.

“That’s kind of the story that we’ve been going through lately,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “Severino gave us a great performance. He got out of the sixth inning. To be at his 90th-plus pitch and to continue to gear back and give it everything he had, it was a big performance. We got one from him last game.

“He walked off the mound with a lead, and we just have not been able to finish the game off for him.”

The Athletics are scheduled to start left-hander Jacob Lopez (0-2, 2.57 ERA) on Thursday. He has one made career appearance against Toronto, a start for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2023, and he earned his first major league win despite yielding six runs, five earned, on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Right-hander Jose Berrios (1-2, 4.22 ERA) is expected to start for Toronto. He is winless since April 7, having gone 0-1 with a 4.08 ERA in his past eight starts.

In 11 career starts against the Athletics, Berrios is 3-3 with a 3.46 ERA.

–Field Level Media