ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Manager Kevin Cash was talking after Monday's win about how his Rays had performed like they were built to: "Play really, really good defense, pitch well and get some big hits."
Tuesday, they didn't really do any of those well.
And they lost, 4-3 to the A's.
A passed ball by catcher Mike Zunino led to one Oakland run and a throwing error by shortstop Willy Adames preceded a three-run outburst in the sixth.
Reliever Emilio Pagan didn't fare well pitching against his former A's mates, allowing homers three pitches apart to Matt Olson and Khris Davis.
And the Rays managed only four hits total against a quartet of Oakland pitchers, and only one in the five at-bats they had with runners in scoring position.
Their best early opportunity came in the second when they got their first two on as Ji-Man Choi walked and Adames singled. But they got nothing out of it as Kevin Kiermaier struck out, Mike Zunino, who by the end of the night was 1-for-his-last-31 and hitting .176, popped up, and, after the runners moved up on a wild pitch, Guillermo Heredia grounded out.
They got one in the ninth when Brandon Lowe walked, moved up on a ground out and scored on a single by Adames, but nothing out.
The loss dropped the Rays 41-25, and dropped them out of their sole possession of first place as the Yankees won the first game of their doubleheader.
The Rays took the early lead, as they are wont to do, in the first when Tommy Pham crushed a Mike Fiers pitch well over the left-field wall and on to the walkway, estimated by Statcast at 458 feet.
They followed the flex of muscle with some hustle to extend the lead in the fourth, Adames racing home on the back end of a double steal after Kevin Kiermaier swiped second with two outs.
After Ryne Stanek worked a scoreless opening inning and Jalen Beeks posted four zeroes in another solid outing that included starting two double plays, the Rays turned to Pagan.
He pitched for the A's most of last season, and obviously got to know the Oakland hitters well. Would that help or hurt him when he stood 60 feet, 6 inches away?
"Everyone knows everybody now," Pagan said Monday. "I know what those guys do well, and they know what I do well, so it's a matter of getting into those plus counts and executing when you do."
That didn't happen, as he gave up a pair of home runs that turned a 2-1 Rays lead into a 4-2 deficit.
Pagan got the first out, and should have gotten the second, but Adames, after fielding a fairly routine grounder, bounced his throw to first and Choi couldn't hang on as he fell forward on the stretch. The Rays challenged the call, but it was confirmed, and in just 48 seconds.
Olson launched a 2-0 fastball over the right-field fence, the first homer Pagan allowed in 21 games this season. Two pitches later, Davis made it hurt worse, lacing a slider over the center-field fence.
The Rays went into play Tuesday pitching properly, having allowed only 12 runs over their last seven games, after a messy 29 in their previous four. They led the majors with a 2.92 ERA, ranking ahead of the Dodgers (3.30) and Astros (3.44).
For some context of how good that is, if the Rays were to keep it up it would be the lowest team ERA in the American League in close to 50 years, since the 1981 Yankees posted a 2.90. It would be the lowest in the majors in four years, as the 2015 Cardinals posted a 2.64.
The Rays have led the majors every day since April 22, and 67 of the last 70.
Related, they ranked second in the majors with a .217 opponents average (the Astros were first at .208) and fourth with 625 strikeouts.
Also, they generated the most swings and misses of any team, per fangraphs.com at 13.3 percent, with the Astros next at 12.7 percent.
In their first 65 games, the Rays allowed three or fewer runs 43 times (66.2 percent), two or fewer 32 times (49.2) and one or none 22 times (33.8), all best in the majors. Their six shutouts are tied for most in the AL.
The Rays went into play Tuesday at 41-24, just the third time in franchise history they've been as many as 17 games over .500 before the All-Star break. The other two times, in 20018 and 2010, they won the AL East.
