OAKLAND -- The A’s are anticipating a boost of energy from seeing their All-Star ace Chris Bassitt make his long awaited return to the mound on Thursday. At this point, that might be their last hope of saving their sinking season.

For a third straight day, the A’s were thoroughly outplayed by the Mariners in every facet of the game, this time a 4-1 loss on Wednesday night at the Coliseum. Now 3 1/2 games back of the Yankees (86-67) for the second American League Wild Card spot, Oakland (82-70) enters the final 10 games of the regular season on a three-game losing streak that has seen very few positives. The latest loss allowed the Mariners (83-69) to pass ahead of the A's in the standings, by one game.

A’s manager Bob Melvin generally avoids using any sort of hyperbole, regardless of the situation. But given the free-falling state of his club, calling Thursday’s series finale a must-win game might not be an exaggeration.

“We have to win tomorrow,” Melvin said. “After losing again tonight and falling behind them, tomorrow is a really important game for us. They all are at this point, but tomorrow, we have to go out and win.”

Outside of the final score, the first three games of this four-game series with Seattle have nearly been carbon copies of each other. It starts with an A’s starter giving up early runs, while the offense struggles to generate runs against the Mariners starter, and ends with a quiet ending against Seattle’s bullpen.

On Wednesday, it was Cole Irvin allowing three early runs and being pulled after five-plus innings. Save for Matt Chapman’s solo home run in the fourth, the A’s were befuddled by Mariners starter Chris Flexen, who tossed seven innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts. In relief, Seattle’s bullpen made quick work of A’s hitters by allowing just one hit over the final two innings.

“We’re just not doing enough offensively in these three games to support our starters,” Melvin said. “Granted, we gave up some runs and are getting behind. But we’re just not doing enough to come back and put any pressure on their pitching.”

The A’s had plenty of reason to feel like they were about to get on a roll at the start of this series. They came into the showdown winners of five in a row after beating up on the Royals and Angels last week. However, even when the A’s have been playing at their best, the issues against the Mariners have been a constant throughout the 2021 campaign.

Now 4-11 against Seattle this year, the A’s eight-game losing streak vs. their AL West rivals matches the longest such streak in franchise history. The last one came July 9-Sept. 26, 2017.

“These last three games, we’ve just been outplayed,” Chapman said. “The Mariners came in here in the same situation we’re in. They know this is a big series and they had an opportunity to put themselves in a much better spot and took advantage. 

“We’re not out of it by any means, but it really sucks to lose these three games. We’ve definitely got our work cut out for us. Our window is closing.”

Over that eight-game losing streak against Seattle, the A’s have scored just 19 runs. So what needs to change for the A’s to reverse their fortunes against the Mariners, whom they still must play four times over the next 11 days?

“We've got to find a way to string some hits together,” Chapman said. “We've got to score runs. It’s not like we’ve given up a ton of runs this series. We just have to combat the way they’ve been pitching us. They’ve been coming right after us and keeping us off balance. For us, it’s get guys on base and find that timely hit and keep the momentum on our side.”

A momentum swing is desperately needed. Maybe Bassitt can spark one with an electric return on Thursday. Maybe the offense can finally crack the code that is Mariners pitching. Whatever it is, it has to happen soon.

“Crazier things have happened,” Chapman said. “A lot of things can happen in 10 games. We can’t sit back here and hang our heads. It sucks that we lost these games. I wanted to win those games bad. I want to make the playoffs. But all we can really do is show up and keep pushing. 

“We’re not eliminated and there’s still a fighting chance, so we’re going to go out and fight.”