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In their four losses following a six-game win streak, the Jays have managed just three runs on 15 hits, causing those fans who have not already dissolved into puddles of goo to reach for their panic buttons.

This feels familiar.

The Jays had a road trip in May that also started in Tampa, although that one continued through Texas, and going into the ninth inning of the sixth and final game of that trip they had scored a grand total of four runs.聽

Bo Bichette came off the bench and drilled a go-ahead, two-run home run in that ninth inning, a drive many Jays credit with turning the season around. But Bo’s not walking through the door any time soon, sidelined at least for the rest of the regular season with a sprained ankle.

It’s not like the offence is doomed without him, though. The Jays scored 36 runs over that six-game win streak that ended Tuesday and had averaged five runs per game since Bichette went down before hitting this rather large bump in the road.

And they follow that awful May road trip with 13 wins in their next 16 games, though it’s not the awful Athletics waiting for them now.

The good news Saturday was 6 1/3 very strong innings from Shane Bieber, who gave up back-to-back home runs to Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino leading off the fourth and pretty much nothing else.聽

Bieber’s performance was a welcome sight for a starting group that appears to be in great disarray.

Kevin Gausman has stepped up in a major way to stabilize the front of the rotation and is now the clear choice to open up the post-season. The right-hander has a 2.30 ERA since mid-June and over his last four starts聽鈥� against potential playoff opponents Milwaukee, the Yankees and Houston plus Jays nemesis Tampa Bay聽鈥� he’s allowed only 20 baserunners in 30 innings for a WHIP of 0.67. His ERA over that span is 0.90.

But beyond Gausman and Bieber, there are nothing but question marks.

Max Scherzer gave up seven runs and only managed to record two outs in Friday’s 20-1 loss in Kansas City. But even if you look at that as a one-off, the 41-year-old right-hander had posted a 6.52 ERA in his previous four starts. He’s allowed 18 home runs in 90 innings, a rate 20 per cent higher than his previous worst.

Scherzer is no sure thing. Neither is Chris Bassitt, who was placed on the 15-day injured list before the game with low back inflammation.

Jos茅 Berr铆os has been moved to the bullpen, and even with Bassitt out of action that decision hasn’t been reversed. Eric Lauer was moved to the ‘pen at the beginning of September.

Who’s left? A 22-year-old in his first year as a pro and will be making his second MLB appearance on Sunday.

Trey Yesavage was phenomenal in Tampa on Monday, setting a franchise record for a debut with nine strikeouts and taking a two-hitter into the sixth inning, but it seems incredibly optimistic to expect an untested kid to step into a pennant race as one of the top three starters on a playoff team.

The Jays have not announced their rotation beyond Yesavage Sunday, followed by Gausman, Scherzer and Bieber against the Boston Red Sox to open the final homestand of the season.

With Monday off, Yesavage could come back and start the opener of the final series, Sept. 26 against the Rays. If the Jays have clinched the division by then聽鈥� or if they do it that night聽鈥� which is not unlikely regardless of their current offensive outage, the final two games could be used to get the relievers some work before a long break, and to give Alek Manoah a start.

With Bassitt eligible to return for the division series and聽鈥� should the Jays cough up the division聽鈥� no fourth starter needed in the wild-card round, it appears the thinking is to go with Gausman, Bieber and then Scherzer or Yesavage, or both.

Given what happened in 2020, with the Jays deciding to hold then-ace Hyun-Jin Ryu back for Game 2 of their first-round series with the Rays, and the 2023 Berr铆os debacle, you can almost count on this front office doing something way too cute in the playoffs.

They’ll get there, but they’re not making it easy.