ST. PETERSBURG -- Even during Spring Training, the Rays knew that for them to make a run at the postseason in 2019, they would have to rely on stellar pitching, great defense and timely hitting.

But over the past two weeks, including Tuesday's 7-3 loss to the Dodgers, the Rays' pitchers have struggled, their defense has made uncharacteristic errors and the bats have been quiet more often than not.

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“You know what, we did so many things really well early on in the year. We played really good baseball,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Unfortunately, the last two [games have] just been ugly losses. I know an off-day was sandwiched in between there, but we just have to bounce back tomorrow and look for some better performances, but they just beat us tonight.”

Tuesday was about as uncharacteristic of a game as the Rays have played all season. The first mistake came from Avisaíl García, who misplayed a ball in right field in the first inning, allowing Max Muncy to score all the way from first on a Justin Turner single that ended up skipping all the way to the wall.

“Avi has been outstanding for us,” Cash said. “I think our defense shows up probably when it’s good and when it’s bad more on this club because we play a lot of tight ballgames, and we have to convert plays into outs.

“The defense, as hard as they work, it can be frustrating when we’re not making the plays that we’re capable of making.”

While the error opened the scoring, it was just one of many problems and mistakes the Rays made.

The pitching wasn’t sharp again, especially Jalen Beeks, who allowed five runs over 4 2/3 innings. After allowing seven runs on Tuesday, Rays pitchers have allowed 20 runs in the past two games compared to five in the previous four. The stretch has increased the team’s season ERA from 2.79 ERA to 3.05, which is the highest it has been since May 2.

The offense was held quiet for six innings by Clayton Kershaw, who allowed just two runs and struck out eight in 6 1/3 innings. “I know we got going there late, but it was late,” Cash said.

And then there was the baserunning error by Kevin Kiermaier, who got thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple in the eighth inning of a 6-3 game. Kiermaier, who is one of the fastest players in the league, admitted that he can’t get thrown out in that situation, but it also took a perfect throw from Dodgers center fielder Alex Verdugo to get him at third base.

“You’re not trying to kill any kind of rally there,” Kiermaier said. “But looking at the replay, that was an amazing throw from him, and I tip my cap to him.”

The Rays knew this was the beginning of their toughest stretch of the season, which includes 47 games in 48 days until the All-Star break starting July 8. But even with how tough the past two losses have been, the Rays are confident that they can come back Wednesday and turn things around before hitting the road for a four-game set against Cleveland.

“It’s an uncharacteristic trait from us right now,” Rays outfielder Tommy Pham said. “It’s just a matter of execution on our end. I’m pretty sure we’ll do a better job of that.”