ST. PETERSBURG -- After stumbling out of the gate to start the second half, the Rays seem to be hitting their stride as they approach the season’s stretch run.

The Rays rode another excellent pitching performance and a pair of timely hits from Harold Ramírez to a 3-2 win over the Royals on Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay has now won seven of its past nine games, with both losses coming by one run in extra innings, while taking three consecutive series to match a season high set back in April.

“That's our goal,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We want to win tonight and win the series.”

Overall, the Rays have won 11 of their past 17 games since experiencing a 3-8 stretch coming out of the All-Star break. That’s pushed them back to 10 games over .500 at 65-55, and into a more comfortable position in the standings. They now sit eight games behind the American League East-leading Yankees and tied with the Blue Jays for an AL Wild Card spot, with the Mariners looming in the playoff picture as well.

“We were down for a little bit of a stretch where we were losing, and it's just great to see everyone is showing up every day with a positive attitude,” said Christian Bethancourt, who hit his second homer of the series Sunday. “If we lose today or we lose tomorrow, you know we're still going to show up and we're still going to do our best to keep ourselves in the game and win.”

The Rays' lineup has gotten a boost lately with the return of Ramírez and Manuel Margot from the injured list, although Wander Franco’s latest setback creates some questions about when they’ll be at full strength. Ramírez and his simple contact-oriented approach were particularly crucial on Sunday, as he recorded two go-ahead hits in the same game for the first time in his career.

“He's on a tear right now, and we're 100 percent glad he's back,” left-hander Ryan Yarbrough said. “He brings so much to the table, especially his attitude and the vibes he gives off in the clubhouse -- but obviously especially what he does on the field.”

He may not have been “Barreled” Ramírez in Sunday’s series finale, as his three singles went a combined 20 feet before bouncing off the Trop’s turf. But he delivered balls in play in two situations where the Rays couldn’t afford strikeouts, and both found a hole.

After Randy Arozarena singled and stole second with two outs in the first inning, Ramírez worked a full count against Zack Greinke, then slapped a ball through the right side for an RBI single. It was the same story in the fifth: Brandon Lowe singled and Arozarena walked with one out, then Ramírez chopped a sinker from Jose Cuas up the middle for a go-ahead single.

“Some days we'll hit it hard. Some days we hit it slow,” Ramírez said. “That's part of the game, because it's hard to hit the baseball. So I just have the same approach and focus on hitting the ball.”

As usual for the Rays, though, their recent success starts with their pitching.

Tampa Bay has given up three runs or fewer in eight of its past nine games, allowing two runs or fewer in seven of them, while posting a 1.76 ERA during that stretch. The rotation has been excellent, and outside of one tough night in New York, the bullpen has been lights-out.

“They’re special … and it takes a lot of pressure off us,” lefty reliever Colin Poche said. “We come into every game knowing that these [starters] are going to give us a really good chance to win.”

That was the case again Sunday afternoon. Yarbrough breezed through four innings before the Royals scored two unearned runs after an error by Lowe to end a 13-pitch at-bat by Nicky Lopez. Then the bullpen door swung open, and out came the zeroes.

Shawn Armstrong recorded four outs, Poche picked up four more while striking out three of the five hitters he faced, and Brooks Raley worked around a leadoff walk in a blank eighth. Pete Fairbanks continued his dominant performance of late -- “might be on the best run that I’ve seen,” according to Cash -- and earned his fourth save in the ninth.

“They were tremendous. We've really leaned heavily on the bullpen,” Cash said. “[Would] like to find a way not to do that here soon, but in the meantime, they're helping us win a lot of games.”