ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays didn’t quite follow all the way through on their stated goal to finish the first half of the season on a high note, as they were no-hit by left-hander Robbie Ray for 6 1/3 innings on Sunday afternoon and lost to the Blue Jays, 3-1, at Tropicana Field.

“We really wanted to find a way to win that one,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said, “but Robbie Ray and the Blue Jays had other plans.”

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But still, the Rays went their separate ways for the All-Star break feeling pretty good about what they’ve accomplished so far and even better about what might be in store the rest of the way.

The defending American League champions reached the break with a 53-37 record, the third-best mark through 90 games in franchise history behind the 55-35 records held by the 2008 and 2010 AL East championship clubs. They are only 1 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East standings, and they have a comfortable hold on an AL Wild Card spot at the break.

“I think we're extremely encouraged. We've seen what we're capable of,” All-Star infielder Joey Wendle said Sunday morning. “Looking forward to keeping it rolling and having a good start to the second half as well.”

Despite a poor offensive showing against a locked-in Ray in the first-half finale, the Rays bounced back from a brief skid and played well heading into the break. Sunday’s defeat snapped their six-game winning streak, and they won 10 of their final 16 games of the half. They have weathered a storm of injuries, especially to their pitching staff, and put together the best ERA and bullpen ERA in the AL to this point.

They’ve had their ups and downs offensively, with Sunday’s effort fitting squarely in the second category, but they have positioned themselves as a contender heading into the July 30 Trade Deadline and the rest of the season.

“We'd all be lying to you if we [said we] still don't think about last year and where we got to,” All-Star catcher Mike Zunino said before the game. “It's a long 162. To hit the halfway point and be right there where we want to be, in contention, and have a chance to make the playoffs is what our goal was.

“And [if] we just continue to play our brand of baseball, hopefully get some guys healthy as we reach that stretch and then get some more reinforcements when those guys get healthy, it'd really help us out.”

The first half finished with somewhat of a thud, though, as Rich Hill gave up three runs on four hits and three walks over five innings while Ray dominated the Rays with fastballs and sliders and struck out 11. Ray's no-hit bid came to an end with one out in the seventh inning, when Yandy Díaz hit a line drive to the top of the left-field fence. A fan reached over the railing atop the wall and touched the ball, so Díaz reached on a fan-interference double.

The Rays have not been no-hit since Félix Hernández threw a perfect game against them in Seattle on Aug. 15, 2012. They were last no-hit at Tropicana Field by Edwin Jackson, who needed 149 pitches to get through nine hitless innings on June 25, 2010.

“Thank God that we did get a hit and we didn't get no-hit,” Díaz said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “Thank God for that.”

Díaz had been the Rays’ only baserunner to that point, as he also worked a two-out walk in the first inning. A hit of any kind came as a relief. The Rays only hit four balls to the outfield and didn’t get a runner past second base against Ray as he grunted his way through seven innings on 103 pitches.

“This team has done a lot of really good things leading into the break,” Cash said. “I don't think you want to have that topic of conversation to go into the break with.”

Even in a loss, there were silver linings for the Rays. Brandon Lowe broke up the shutout with one out in the ninth, launching a one-out homer to right-center off Jordan Romano. Tampa Bay knew Lowe would get hot enough to carry the lineup eventually, and he reached that point at the end of the first half with five homers in his last five games, seven in his last nine and nine in his last 16.

“He's taking good swings, and he's picking us up,” Cash said. “He's doing what we all have known and been confident that he is capable of doing.”

The Rays’ bullpen has also been a bright spot, as was the case again on Sunday. Right-handers Collin McHugh and Drew Rasmussen struck out three over four scoreless innings. Tampa Bay’s relievers entered the break with a scoreless streak of 22 innings dating back to Monday, a stretch in which they allowed only six hits and five walks while striking out 28.

“Our bullpen has been very, very important to us,” Cash said. “You could argue, of all facets of our game, they might be the most valuable, the way they have pitched innings and just the quality with which they perform.”