The Rangers sweep the Rays, who are losing their grip on first place in the East

Arlington, Texas — The Rays hit the ball hard, got ten runners on base and sometimes tried to force action on Wednesday, all in an effort to snap their recent losing streak and come home with some semblance of momentum.

But nothing really worked, and instead they marched towards the Buses after losing their fourth game in a row, this one 5-1 to the Rangers, as well as their only grip on first place in MLS East which they’ve held since day three of the season.

The Rays (60-39) are now tied with the Orioles (58-37), whom they opened a four-game series against at Tropicana Field on Thursday.

“It’s a big series,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “I’m not going to lie. It’s a great series. They’ve played very well. A four-game series presents its own challenges. We want to get out there and play well. …

“We played really well at home. We hope our fans there will be really loud for us and support us.”

Aside from a solid potting performance from turned-starter Zack Littell, nothing really went down Wednesday for the Rays, who went 3-14 in July and lost 19 of their last 31. Since starting 29-7 (through May 8), they’ve gone 31-32, with a notable drop in production.

In March/April, for example, they hit 0.282, post 879 OPS and average 6.72 hits per game, and in July, they hit 0.210, have an OPS of less than 0.640 and average just 3.36 hits a game.

“I don’t think we really have to change anything,” All Star player Randy Arozarena said via team interpreter Manny Navarro. “I think that’s the way the game works – sometimes you run well and you come up against a pitcher and he’s going well, and sometimes you don’t hit the ball well and you think that’s the shot.

“But I think we have to keep going, keep trying, keep fighting and not change anything. At the beginning of the year we were doing the same thing we’re doing now, we were getting different results…

“The last few games haven’t really gone our way, but we can’t give up now. We still have to carry on with the rest of the season. There are 162 games to go.”

In some of the quieter games, the Rays didn’t have many chances. Wednesday, they had several, but failed to convert (0-for-4 with runners in scoring position, after 0-for-6 Tuesday and 1-for-5 Monday), getting their only run in the ninth inning by Jose Serre.

“I felt like we hit some balls really hard and some guys,” Cash said. “We just couldn’t get anything over it. It’s just the way it goes sometimes, but it just seems to build up a bit.”

Stay up to date on the Tampa Bay sports scene

Sign up for our free sports newsletter today

We’ll send you news and analysis on the Bucs, Lightning, Rays, and Florida college football teams every day.

You are all signed up!

Want more of our free weekly newsletter in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all of your options

They had a chance to grab a lead in the second, but Josh Lowe was sacked at the plate trying to score on a double from Manuel Margot right, courtesy of two good throws by the Texans. A potential rally in the third rally, with two outs and one out, was wasted when Taylor Walls pulled away from second and was picked off.

They got two to no outs in a promising fourth, but Seeree rooted for a double play, and after Josh Lowe walked, Margot popped out. They got two with one out in the fifth inning – and Rangers starter John Gray was knocked out of the game after being hit in the left leg on Yandy Diaz’s single – but Arozarena (who was supposed to have an off day) swung at the first pitch off former Rays minor Brock Burke and walked out.

And in the seventh, they had Margot first with one out after another, when Cash Wonder called out Franco, another All-Star supposed to get the day off. But Franco conflicts with debuting right-hand man Alex Spies, and Margot is caught shoplifting.

It’s a combination of their players trying to do too much, opposing pitchers being sharp, lack of rest periods in their favor and more, Cash said.

He said “all of the above”. “We don’t have a lot going our way now. We don’t create chances as well as we can, and the things we do well probably don’t come up as often as we would like.”

Yes, it’s still only July. But after leading the division for 3 1/2 months, the Rays go into Game 100 on Thursday to have to start doing things better soon or they’ll be looking for the Orioles.

“They played really good ball,” Margot said via Navarro. They made the adjustments that were necessary, and we didn’t. … We have to take some of those chances and go out and play and try to defend the first place we’ve been all season.”

• • •

Sign up for Today’s Sports Newsletter to get daily updates on Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.

Don’t miss the latest news with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on Twitter And Facebook.