At least for one more day, Stephen Piscotty will return on Wednesday to the place that has given him an escape from it all.

The baseball field has been something of a sanctuary to take his mind off everything that has happened away from it this year, a season that has been as thrilling on it as it has been heartbreaking off of it.

“It’s been a hard year,” Piscotty said Tuesday in the A’s clubhouse at Yankee Stadium, ahead of Wednesday’s wild-card showdown. “Ups and downs, obviously some pretty low downs.”

In December, Piscotty was traded from the Cardinals to the A’s for a pair of prospects. There were real baseball decisions behind the move — the Cardinals had an excess of outfielders battling for playing time, and the A’s needed a bat and a corner outfielder.

But the trade also allowed Piscotty to be closer to his family’s home in Pleasanton, Calif., where he could be around and help his mother, Gretchen, who was battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Their house was a short drive from the A’s home at Oakland Coliseum, and it gave Piscotty more time to spend with his mom, including all the nights when he would play “Amazing Grace” on his guitar as she fell asleep.

Five months later on May 6, Gretchen died, less than a year after being diagnosed with the neuromuscular disorder also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The A’s were home that week and Piscotty was with his family. He got back on the field two days later against the Astros, singling in his first at-bat, and played one more game after that before going on the bereavement list for five days.

In his first game back May 15 at Fenway Park, Piscotty hit an emotional home run. He patted his chest near his heart as he crossed home plate, a gesture that Gretchen used to say, “I love you and thank you,” after she lost her ability to speak.

Piscotty had struggled to find a rhythm early in the season, and it continued in his first two weeks back before he became one of the A’s hottest hitters entering Wednesday. Since June 1, the right fielder has hit .286, crushed 24 of his career-high 27 home runs and posted a .907 OPS, proving to be an integral part of the A’s postseason chase.

“It’s been a special year being able to battle through some stuff and get back, but honestly on a personal level it’s been a pretty devastating year,” Piscotty said.

The 27-year-old’s teammates are in awe of how he’s handled it all.

“Amazing. I get chills thinking about it right now, just the ups and downs he’s had,” slugger Khris Davis said. “He’s had a career year and he’s played his best baseball in his life. And he’s got way more to do. The loss of his mom was just a tragedy. There’s nothing harder in life to deal with than that. For him to come out and show up, it’s been inspiring to me.”

Outfielder Mark Canha, a fellow Bay Area native, said Piscotty’s even-keel nature has helped him persevere.

“I think it’s something magical,” Canha said. “The season he’s had, he’ll never forget this season. … You need performances like that to get where we are. He’s been a hero for us in the second half.”

The routine nature the game provides has been of comfort to Piscotty, who grew up an A’s fan and played his college ball at nearby Stanford.

“I’m very passionate about baseball and I feel like when I’m here, I’m at peace and doing what I’m put on this Earth to do,” Piscotty said. “I find some peace and solace here. It’s been a great place to get your mind off things and that sort of stuff. Thankfully we’ve been winning and having fun, so it’s been good.”

Whenever the A’s season ends, there will be more for Piscotty to deal with. He has been off the bereavement list since May 15, but the pain hasn’t gone away.

Still, while playing in 151 of the A’s 162 games, Piscotty has shown his new team plenty about his makeup.

“It’s been pretty extreme from what he had to go through early on to where he is right now, but to watch him throughout the course of the season get to the point where he is right now shows you a little bit about what’s inside him, because not only was this a difficult process for him, it was a long, difficult process for him,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “So when it’s over, it’s not like it’s over and now you’re back to normalcy.”

Though the season has brought him on a journey all over the emotional spectrum, Piscotty said he doesn’t want it to end anytime soon.

“I’ve just made some incredible memories that I’m going to cherish forever,” he said. “I hope to make some more in this next month here.”