Rays ready to hit the road after third straight series loss at Trop

ST. PETERSBURG -- For the first-place Rays, Thursday afternoon was the punctuation mark on a homestand to forget.

Surrendering three solo home runs then countering with just a mild show of offense, the Rays were defeated by the Blue Jays, 5-1, completing a 2-5 stretch at Tropicana Field that followed a record-setting 9-0 road trip.

“Maybe it’s a good thing to get back out on the road,’’ Manager Kevin Cash said before boarding the charter flight to Baltimore, where the Rays seek a weekend turnaround against the American League East rival Orioles.

“I feel like we had some tough games that just didn’t go our way,’’ center fielder Cedric Mullins said. “So [we’d like to] be able to reset really quick, change the environment up a little bit and get back to it.’’

The Rays, with the most MLB victories (43) at home this season, have inexplicably dropped three straight home series for the first time since last season’s temporary digs at Steinbrenner Field, when the Trop was undergoing repairs for hurricane damage. During this recent trio of series, the Rays went 3-7 and were outscored 63-22.

“We stick together and we have a good process,’’ said Rays starter Ian Seymour (9-4). “We’re a good team. I’m confident we’ll pick it back up. I mean, they [Blue Jays] kind of kicked us in the teeth from an offensive standpoint and pitching-wise, we just gave up a lot more runs than we typically do.’’

Seymour had decent stuff, striking out eight and walking just one in five innings. But he was undone by a trio of solo homers: Kazuma Okamoto’s 415-foot shot in the second, followed by Nathan Lukes’ blast to right in the fifth, then Daz Cameron’s 442-foot homer two batters later.

“He just made a couple of mistakes and they made him pay for it,’’ catcher Nick Fortes said.

The Jays separated the game in the seventh with two runs on George Springer’s one-out bases-loaded single against Casey Legumina. After an intentional walk to Alejandro Kirk filled the bases, first baseman Jonathan Aranda played on the edge of the infield while second baseman Richie Palacios was back near the bag. Springer’s end-of-the-bat dribbler scooted past Legumina into the hole between first and second -- no man’s land -- and rolled into short right field for a deflating two-run single.

“We’re not turning two right there,’’ Cash said. “I think it’s a tough read for Jonny and a tough read for Richie. Probably the last place where you’re expecting the ball to go. Give them credit for moving the baseball and putting pressure on us.’’

Meanwhile, the Rays got very little going against right-hander Shane Bieber (5-2), who allowed just four singles over seven innings, while striking out seven and walking none.

The Rays tied it 1-1 in the fourth. Chandler Simpson led off with an infield single, then advanced when second baseman Charles McAdoo sailed his throw, trying to nab the speedy runner. Junior Caminero followed with a rocket-shot RBI that scored Simpson. Caminero was limited to a single because the liner (with an exit velocity of 114.6 mph) slammed off the left-field wall and Cameron hustled it back to the infield. One out later, Yandy Díaz singled, but both runners were stranded.

The Rays managed just two singles and a walk the rest of the way as Toronto retired 17 of the final 20 Tampa Bay batters. There was brief seventh-inning drama when Díaz led off with a single, then Mullins flirted with a homer to right. But Lukes ran and leaped, making a spectacular catch at the top of the wall.

And that was that.

In what has become a hotly contested AL East, in which all five teams are in strong postseason contention, the Rays remain securely in front. But they’d welcome a reversal of their recent fortunes.

“We got two teams [the Orioles and Blue Jays on the homestand] that are playing very good baseball,’’ Cash said. “They kind of put it to us. We’re playing in a very challenging division. Certain teams that maybe got off to some slower starts are playing better baseball right now.’’