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The Toronto Blue Jays managed eight runs during Tuesday's game versus the Oakland Athletics, but it wasn't enough to overcome the onslaught, as the A's drove in nine runs to squeak out a win.

The Jays host the Athletics in the middle contest of a three-game series at Rogers Centre on Wednesday night (7 p.m. ET).

Toronto's Vernon Wells gestures as he crosses home plate after hitting a three-run homer in the first inning against the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday.
(Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Toronto (4-3) will have another stab at taking advantage of Oakland's injury-ridden starting rotation as they try to pull even in the set.

The A's (4-4) managed Tuesday's 9-8 victory despite missing scheduled starter Rich Harden, who strained a muscle in his upper arm. The team activated Chad Gaudin from the disabled list for his season debut.

To make matters worse for the Athletics pitching staff, right-hander Justin Duchscherer, scheduled to start versus the Jays Wednesday, was moved to the 15-day disabled list with an inflamed biceps.

Twenty-four-year-old southpaw Greg Smith will make his Major League debut in place of Duchscherer.

Drafted in the sixth round by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2005, Smith logged one start for Triple-A Sacramento this season, in which he gave up two runs and six hits in six innings of the defeat.

Oakland has been on an offensive rampage of late, posting at least 10 hits in winning three of its last four games, including a season-high 13 against the Jays.

They pushed five runs past Jays starter A.J. Burnett in the second inning, forcing Toronto to dig deep for a 12-hit performance, including homers by Vernon Wells, Frank Thomas and Aaron Hill.

"There's not going to be too many times where we have to bail those guys out," said Wells, who walloped a three-run homer in the first inning for the Blue Jays, and is hitting .308 (8-for-26). "We did what we could and tried to get back in it."

Wells hit a homer for his second straight game, while Thomas extended his home-run streak to three games.

"Every time they came back, we just wanted to go back ahead again," said Ryan Sweeney, who pounded a tie-breaking RBI triple in the ninth inning. "We're not going to give up until the game is over."

Before Tuesday, the Blue Jays had picked up a trio of victories versus the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox.

Dustin McGowan (0-0, 3.00), who is 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA in five games against the Athletics, will take the mound for the Blue Jays. The right-hander was 8-3 with a 3.27 ERA in 13 starts in 2007.

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