CINCINNATI -- The Rays’ bullpen never found its rhythm late in Saturday night’s contest with the Reds.

After four pitchers combined to hold Cincinnati scoreless through seven innings, the ‘pen showed uncharacteristic struggles just six outs away from victory, leading to a 5-4 loss in 10 innings at Great American Ball Park for the second consecutive night.

Managing with a three-run lead, Rays skipper Kevin Cash turned to trusty left-hander Brooks Raley to pitch the eighth in a game that seemed all but destined for a Game 2 shutout in favor of Tampa Bay.

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Instead, the Reds' bats came alive and turned the tables on a typically stout Tampa Bay bullpen with a pair of hits followed by a hit batsman to load the bases. Cash made the move to the ‘pen once again, bringing in left-hander Colin Poche to try to limit the damage, but a walk to Nick Senzel and two-run single by Brandon Drury tied the game, 3-3.

Just two innings later, the Reds put the finishing touches on their comeback with three consecutive hits off of Calvin Faucher by Matt Reynolds, Donovan Solano and Senzel.

“I understand why we didn't score many runs early on, [Reds starting pitcher] Hunter Greene was really good,” Cash said. “But [I’d] like to think that with a 3-0 ballgame that we can somehow preserve that lead.”

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Late-inning struggles of any kind are unusual for the Rays' bullpen, which entered Saturday’s contest with the eighth-lowest bullpen ERA in the Majors at 3.32. Raley himself has been a key piece of that, and entered the contest with a 2.13 ERA in his 25 1/3 innings while striking out 35. His ERA increased by over a run to 3.16 after Saturday’s outing.

While admitting their own struggles, Cash gave the credit to the Reds, who continued to battle throughout the night after getting shut out by starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen, among others, through the first seven innings. Faucher put himself in a pitcher's count on multiple occasions, before letting up solid contact into the outfield.

“Some really good at-bats by the Reds,” Cash said. “[Faucher] did a nice job of getting ahead of [Reynolds], then he probably left the pitch a little bit too much on the plate to make it first and third [with] no outs. I mean, they had a nice approach where they just kept rifling balls the other way on him.”

Faucher himself said after the game that he felt his stuff was solid despite the results not going his way.

“I felt great going into the inning, felt great during the inning,” Faucher said. “Threw good pitches against the first hitter, got to two strikes, [and then just] threw one too juicy over the plate [and Reynolds] gets a hit. [Solano had] a two-strike hit as well. Not expanding enough, I guess.

“It’s a tough outcome for sure,” he added. “I was fired up to be in that position. … Unfortunately it just didn't go our way.”

Cash also wouldn't let one late-game slip-up take away from the consistency that he’s gotten out of the group for the majority of the season.

“Raley and Poche have been so good for us all season long, just a little hiccup,” Cash said.

After the loss, Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier -- who was replaced by a pinch-runner after a leadoff single in the ninth inning due to hip pain -- seemed ready to put the difficult night behind them.

“You win as a team, you lose as a team. Just move on. It’s a tough one,” Kiermaier said.