ST. PETERSBURG -- Here’s a snapshot of how things went this weekend for the White Sox -- taken from their 4-1 loss to the Rays on Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field that capped a three-game sweep.

In the fourth inning, when the White Sox scored their lone run of the game, Andrew Benintendi doubled to right-center, Eloy Jiménez doubled to left-center and Gavin Sheets flew out to the right-field wall against Zach Eflin. All three looked as if they had a chance to clear the fences, but none of them did.

Close to success, but not quite enough.

A trio of Tampa Bay starters retired the final 17 White Sox hitters following the Jiménez double, as Chicago fell to 7-15 overall while losing for a fourth straight time and dropping to 2-9 in its last 11. The Rays improved to 13-0 at home, and raised their Major League-best record to 19-3.

Even with a five-game difference between the White Sox and American League Central-leading Minnesota, manager Pedro Grifol moved strongly forward in support of his struggling team.

“We’ve met, talked to them individually, and they come talk to me,” Grifol said. “There’s a lot of care in there; there’s a lot of fight in there. They’ve been through this before.

“I don’t like using the term 'it’s early', but you know, it is what it is. We’ve just got to keep fighting. It’s going to turn around. We’ve just got to fight.”

While Grifol’s words are encouraging, the White Sox have not come close to matching that optimism on the field.

Yes, they are missing key everyday players such as shortstop Tim Anderson and third baseman Yoán Moncada, while closer Liam Hendriks continues his inspirational climb back toward the Majors after battling non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and now being cancer free. But the record doesn’t lie. The White Sox currently are not a good team and can’t allow their worst start to the season since beginning 6-16 in 2018 to take over this campaign.

“We definitely have not played our best,” Benintendi said. “We haven’t clicked as a team yet, as far as hitting and pitching at the same time.

“You know, there’s a lot of games we have kept ourselves in and had a chance to win. That’s only going to benefit us moving forward. [There's still] a lot of season left, but [we] definitely need to start making a move here.”

Lucas Giolito gave the heavily worked White Sox bullpen a break Sunday by working seven innings on 102 pitches. He struck out five and walked two, getting stronger as the game progressed.

Early mistakes against Luke Raley and Harold Ramírez resulted in home runs, providing the offense Tampa Bay needed.

“[I] hung a changeup, one of the worst changeups I’ve thrown in a long time," Giolito said. "[I] tried to go up with a heater, [but] cut it across the plate for another homer. I got stronger as the game went on. [I] felt like I was throwing some of my best pitches in the last couple of innings. Just got to work on getting that good rhythm early.

“I want to go seven-plus every outing, but there was particular importance on that today, so I’m happy we got through it. … Just the execution early in the game was not there and with how hot this team is that we were going up against, they didn’t let me get away with it.”

It’s close to a certainty that this immensely talented Rays team won’t win 19 of every 22 games they play this season, but the Rays have already built themselves a huge cushion in the early going. The White Sox have to prove that these first 22 games are not what they are all about.

“If we started off 23-0, I wouldn’t think we were the best team ever,” Benintendi said. “It’s just taking it for what it is. Learn from it, get better [and] go get them tomorrow.”

“Every team has a slump. We have it right now,” Jiménez said. “It doesn’t mean we are not going to get good and continue to win. All these games are in the past, so tomorrow, we just need to come out and do what we know to do, what we have to do.”

Monday features the opener of a three-game series in Toronto, followed by four at home against these same Rays. Life won’t get any easier for Grifol and his crew.

“They’re not going to stop the season right now,” Grifol said. “Buckle down [and] play good baseball. That’s it.”