The Twins’ West Coast road trip started with some hope of the team gaining ground in the AL wild card race.

It ended Wednesday night in Sacramento with a 7-4 loss to the A’s, the fifth defeat on the six-game swing.

The Twins are four games behind in the wild-card standings as they head home to start a series with the White Sox on Friday.

They didn’t make a roster move Wednesday and they will continue to evaluate All-Star center fielder Byron Buxton when the club returns to Minneapolis.

Buxton exited Tuesday’s game in the seventh inning because of recurring discomfort in his right hip.

If the Twins (64-70) elect to put Buxton on the IL, there’s a chance top prospect Walker Jenkins could be called up. Jenkins homered for the eighth time in his past 15 games at Class AAA St. Paul on Wednesday.

“It was something that lingered a little bit more than normal, which lets me know it was probably something a little worse than my day-to-day stuff,” Buxton told Twins TV’s Audra Martin in Sacramento.

“It’s a little frustrating right now trying to, I guess, play through it. We’ve been doing everything we’re supposed to be doing, so it’s probably frustrating not just for me, but a little bit for everybody.”

Buxton, who has played 11 games since a second stint on the injured list because of a right hip impingement, previously said there are “good days and bad days” with his hip, but he wanted to push forward with the team in a playoff race.

On Wednesday, the A’s scored four times in the bottom of the sixth to grab a 6-4 lead. Twins starter Connor Prielipp left with one out and one on before reliever Andrew Morris was hit hard. Tommy White singled, and Jeff McNeil doubled in the first run.

After Carlos Cortes struck out, Alika Williams hit a long fly that center fielder Luke Keaschall couldn’t corral, and it fell for a two-run triple. Darell Hernaiz singled Williams home.

Prielipp struck out five, walked one and gave up three hits in 5 1/3 innings.

The Twins took a 3-0 lead after two innings on home runs from Brooks Lee, Trevor Larnach and Kaelen Culpepper.

Lawrence Butler homered for the A’s, who have MLB’s third worst record at 53-81, to make the score 7-4 in the seventh.

The Twins threatened in the ninth, getting runners to second and third with two outs, before Elvis Alvarado got Keaschall to strike out swinging.

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