Oakland Athletics: “Our best baseball is yet to come.”

OAKLAND — The A’s returned home Thursday after a challenging seven-game trip, convinced there are great days ahead.

A 3-4 trip against division leaders Minnesota and Houston did nothing to dent the A’s confidence. Oakland begins a nine-game homestand with the first of four games against the struggling Texas Rangers, and there are reasons to believe the A’s are in this for the long haul.

“Our best baseball is yet to come. Everybody feels that way,” center fielder Ramon Laureano said.

Part of that optimism comes from well how the A’s have played recently. Five straight home victories after the All-Star break stretched their win streak to six games before the team headed to the heat and humidity of Minnesota.

The A’s (58-45) split four games against the Twins and took one of three from the Astros. They entered play Thursday in second place in the AL West and leading the race for the second wild card, two games back of Cleveland.

“It’s one win away from what I would consider a good road trip against those teams,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said of going 3-4. “We want to try to play .500 or better on the road, so I don’t think anyone was real happy with how it turned out.”

“We had a good experience, those seven games. Pretty intense games,” Laureano said. “You just keep moving forward. We’re a great team here at home.”

The A’s also expect to get a lift from players currently on the shelf:

— Outfielder Stephen Piscotty has been out for a month with a strained right knee, but is getting closer to a return. He ran the bases, took batting practice and did some outfield work before Thursday’s game, and also did cutting and sliding.

“Trying to check all the boxes,” he said. “You want to get back, but you want to make sure you’re healthy so you don’t compensate and hurt something else.”

Piscotty said he doesn’t know his timetable, but added, “I think we’re really close.”

Melvin said it’s likely Piscotty will get a rehab assignment sometime in the next week or so.

— Left-handed starter Sean Manaea, sidelined since undergoing shoulder surgery last September, had a rough rehab outing Wednesday night at Triple-A Las Vegas, allowing five runs and three home runs in 4 1/3 innings. But he struck out seven and walked just one.

“Everybody’s seen the numbers,” said Melvin, who is more concerned with other indicators. “More than anything, he’s healthy today. He got to the pitch count we wanted.”

Melvin said Manaea’s velocity, location and command all were good. “I think that’s what we’re looking for mostly.”

Manaea, who was Oakland’s ace a year ago with a 12-9 record including a no-hitter vs. the Red Sox, had three earlier rehab starts with Single-A Stockton, compiling a 9.72 earned run average while striking out 10 in 8 1/3 innings.

He is expected to get to more starts in the minors before the A’s consider bringing him to Oakland.

— Right-hander Jharel Cotton, who has missed all of the 2018 and ’19 seasons after reconstructive surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow, also could make a return this season.

Melvin conceded Cotton’s timetable is less certain, calling his rehab “an ongoing process at this point.”

With the expected return of any of those, the A’s should be stronger still. Also looming is the July 31 trade deadline, although Melvin isn’t counting on that avenue providing reinforcements.

“We have some guys that are down (in the minors) who we think can help us,” Melvin said. “Anytime you have some injured guys (return) you can get incrementally better from within.”

Laureano is far more optimistic than that.

“We can all take this from where we are right now to three times better. We know that,” he said. “We have the tools here. We just have to keep working and make it happen.”

NOTE: Catcher Nick Hundley was reinstated from the injured list (back spasms) and designated for assignment. Melvin praised Hundley and said he expects him to be signed by another club.