ST. PETERSBURG -- Saturday afternoon started off with a celebratory hit of nostalgia. Evan Longoria, the greatest player in franchise history, returned to Tropicana Field for the first time in nearly seven years, signed autographs and threw out a ceremonial first pitch.

What unfolded on the field afterward was familiar in a much more frustrating sense.

The Rays piled up missed opportunity on top of missed opportunity, going hitless in 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position as they lost to the Guardians, 4-2. Tampa Bay is 1-for-27 with runners in scoring position the past two days and 8-for-72 in eight games since July 5.

“That's a trend. We've got to kind of kick that trend,” manager Kevin Cash said. “You feel it in the dugout. You feel it throughout the game. We're capable of getting those big hits, but they're not coming right now. Hopefully, we can reset that a little bit tomorrow heading into the break.”

If the Rays win Sunday’s finale to secure their seventh series victory in their past eight tries, they can head into the All-Star break with a .500 record. But they will not enter the All-Star break with a winning record for the first time since 2016. They have held a winning record at the break in 13 of 16 seasons since 2008: every year but 2014, ‘16 and this season.

Tampa Bay's bigger concern is getting its lineup back on track. The Rays have been held to three runs or fewer in six of their past eight games, averaging 2.5 runs and batting a Major League-worst .111 with runners in scoring position during that stretch.

“It's kind of been a trend recently that we need to end,” Josh Lowe said. “Just got to find a way to get that one hit, and maybe that'll kind of break the dam and open it up for us and get them going.”

Timely hitting has been a season-long issue for the Rays, who are batting just .225 with a .668 OPS with men in scoring position after 95 games. But it’s been magnified recently, as they’ve gone 0-for-10 with RISP or worse in three of their past eight games: July 5 at Texas, Wednesday against the Yankees and Saturday.

They had plenty of chances to break through on Saturday. After Yandy Díaz drove in Richie Palacios from first with a double to left off Cleveland starter Gavin Williams in the third inning, Brandon Lowe struck out and Isaac Paredes popped out.

Lowe led off the fourth with a walk and a steal, then the next three Rays went down in order. Paredes began the sixth with a double but moved no farther as reliever Cade Smith struck out Lowe and Randy Arozarena swinging then caught Ben Rortvedt looking.

“We've got to find a way -- myself included -- to simplify the approach there in those at-bats,” Lowe said. “Not trying to do too much, just take our base hits, see the ball fall and just get it going.”

With two on and two outs in the eighth, Arozarena grounded into a fielder’s choice. José Caballero got to second with two outs in the ninth, but Jonny DeLuca grounded out against closer Emmanuel Clase. Caballero was also thrown out twice on the bases, picked off for the final out of the second and caught stealing for the first out of the seventh.

“They’re getting pitched tough, but we're capable of finding ways to get that big hit,” Cash said. “It's not coming right now.”

After Taj Bradley’s gem on Friday night, starter Zack Littell bounced back well from a rare clunker on Sunday in Texas with his team-leading seventh quality start. The right-hander allowed only two runs (one earned) on six hits and a pair of walks over six innings.

“Overall, pretty happy with it,” Littell said. “Locations were good. Thought it was a lot of weak contact. Definitely a good one to go into the break with.”

But the Guardians, who are just 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position the past two games, finally found a big hit in the eighth. After a pinch-hit single by Tyler Freeman, pinch-hitter Jhonkensy Noel launched an 0-1 slider from Garrett Cleavinger out to left field for the game-winning home run.

“Liked the matchups. Cleav has done such a good job for us basically all season long,” Cash said. “Got ahead of him, and then Noel saw that one good, jumped all over it for the biggest hit of the day.”