TORONTO -- The Blue Jays are running out of starting pitchers, but if their bullpen continues to perform like it did Friday night at Rogers Centre, that might not turn into much of a problem.

A few hours after Clay Buchholz was scratched from his scheduled start because of right shoulder inflammation, Toronto used seven relievers, including an opener, in a 4-3 victory over the White Sox. The Blue Jays’ staff scattered six hits and issued two walks while striking out nine to snap a five-game losing streak.

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Randal Grichuk chipped in with a three-run homer, Teoscar Hernandez added a solo shot and Justin Smoak became the third player in franchise history to walk four times in four plate appearances. That provided enough offense on a night when the bullpen delivered one of its best performances of the year, bailing out a struggling rotation that hasn’t been able to keep up with a recent onslaught of injuries.

“I got told last night that I was probably going to start the game and face four or five hitters,” said right-hander Daniel Hudson, who got the start and allowed one run in his one inning. “I just tried to do it the exact same way I would do it in a normal game. Whole routine before and then basically just pitching a bit earlier than you’re used to.”

Toronto’s use of the opener might be here to stay, at least for a while. The Blue Jays were already down one starter when Buchholz experienced soreness while throwing a side session on Thursday. Clayton Richard might be able to return by the time the Blue Jays need a starter on May 18, but Toronto also needs one for Wednesday’s game in San Francisco and there aren’t exactly a lot of candidates to step in and fill the void.

A temporary solution is to continue using the bullpen. During Spring Training, manager Charlie Montoyo said he was hopeful that Toronto would not require an opener, because that would mean he has five healthy starting pitchers. But if the need arose, Montoyo also wouldn’t hesitate to use the same strategy his 2018 Rays coaching staff went to on a regular basis. That time has come, at least for now.

With one out, Hudson gave up back-to-back doubles to Yoan Moncada and Jose Abreu before retiring the next two batters he faced to end his outing. But the real keys to the success of the opener strategy were the two pitchers who came out of the bullpen after him. Long relievers Thomas Pannone and Sam Gaviglio combined to allow just one run over the next 4 1/3 innings. The length and quality of work provided by the two versatile arms are what will enable the Blue Jays to consider this strategy again next week.

“One thing about using the opener, there’s a lot of managing involved,” Montoyo said. “From the first pitch on, depends on how far the opener goes. We had it set up, more or less, how it worked out. We had Pannone for the lefties at the bottom of the lineup. Sammy for the top of the lineup. [Tim] Mayza for the bottom of the lineup. It kind of worked out how we planned it.”

Toronto’s offense entered this game in a bit of a tailspin. The Blue Jays had scored three runs or fewer in all but one of their previous nine games, so three runs in the first inning, courtesy of Grichuk's shot off right-hander Dylan Covey, felt like an explosion. Grichuk's blast was projected to travel 412 feet and left his bat at 103.4 mph, according to Statcast. Hernandez followed in the second with his third home run of the year, also off Covey, which was projected to travel 405 feet and left his bat at 105.3 mph.

But the real story of the night was the bullpen. Seven relievers over nine innings, capped by closer Ken Giles, who picked up save No. 100 of his career with a scoreless ninth.

“I’m lost for words, No. 100 is a big deal,” Giles said. “A lot of hard work. A lot of ups and downs in my career, and in life. Just to get to that point, I’m very thankful for everybody who has been there for me from Day 1, giving me my first chance to close out games. It’s a dream come true. Then most definitely coming here, embracing me, it was definitely a big thing for me.”