SEATTLE -- In a race against the clock to see if he could make it back from a right ankle sprain before the regular season’s end, outfielder Stephen Piscotty returned right at the buzzer.

The A’s activated Piscotty from the 10-day injured list less than two hours before Thursday’s four-game series opener against the Mariners. The outfielder was available off the bench, and he expects to get in a few at-bats over the final series of the regular season.

Piscotty’s absence since sustaining the injury on Aug. 24 has been eased by the emergence of Mark Canha's breakout year, but the A’s returned a player who they see as a middle-of-the-order threat when healthy.

Dealing with nagging injuries all year -- a sprained right knee also kept Piscotty out from June 30-Aug. 2 -- Piscotty is batting .252/.312/.416 with 13 homers and 44 RBIs over 92 games.

Canha (groin) feeling better

After departing in the seventh inning of Wednesday’s 3-2 win over the Angels with a left groin strain, Canha tested out the groin by taking part in running drills Thursday at T-Mobile Park. The outfielder is targeting Friday for a return to the starting lineup, and he expected to be available off the bench Thursday.

"It’s day-to-day,” Canha said. “We’ll come to a collective decision tomorrow, but I think it’s looking like that from all the discussions I’ve had.”

Canha’s injury on Wednesday manifested when he came up early while chasing down a line drive by Jared Walsh in left-center field that he felt he would've been able to catch under normal circumstances.

“It’s hard to tell in the moment, but the fact I had to pull up for a fly ball was a good reason to come out of the game,” Canha said. “I don’t want to be a liability out there. But I didn’t think it was anything major. I didn’t feel a pop. Things just got tight on me. I could have been a little dehydrated, but it feels pretty good today, which is kind of what I expected.”

Canha is in the middle of a career year, entering Thursday's game slashing .275/.399/.524 with a career-high 26 home runs and 58 RBIs over 124 games.