MILWAUKEE -- The first half of this road trip saw the Rays get swept by the White Sox, who doubled their win total over the weekend but still have the Majors’ worst record.

The short bus ride north didn’t make things any better for Tampa Bay. The Rays concluded a 1-5 trip on Wednesday afternoon with a 7-1 loss to the Brewers at American Family Field.

“Maybe one of the rougher ones that I can recall. We just didn't do many things very well,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We didn't necessarily beat ourselves. We just got beat, outplayed, outperformed in really every aspect.”

The Rays managed to squeak out a 1-0 victory in Monday’s series opener due mostly to some spectacular pitching, but they have still lost eight of their last 10 games to fall four games below .500 for the first time since they were 36-40 on June 23, 2018, despite playing the Majors’ weakest schedule so far this season.

The Rays have not won a series since taking two of three from the Giants on April 12-14, with a four-game split and four straight series defeats since then. They’ve struggled in a variety of ways, with spotty defense and occasionally shaky pitching, but their lineup is the biggest cause for concern by a considerable margin.

“Since I've been here, I don't think we've been on such a negative streak,” slumping leadoff man Yandy Díaz said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “It wasn't a good road trip. We're trying to do things better, but it doesn't seem like things are coming our way. Little by little, hopefully.”

The Rays are averaging only 3.25 runs per game as they’ve dropped 11 of their last 16. They’ve scored two runs or fewer in four straight and six of their last nine. Over the past three days in Milwaukee, they struck out 30 times, drew seven walks and had 16 hits -- 15 singles, plus Jose Siri’s 452-foot solo shot off Freddy Peralta on Tuesday night.

“You’ve got to find ways to put a ball in the gap, knock it out of the ballpark, got to get some walks,” Cash said. “These guys, they're wearing it right now. They feel it. And they're frustrated by it. We've just got to stay at it.”

Cash said the Rays would “put our heads together to collectively make an adjustment as an offense, as a team.” Asked about shaking up the lineup, he reiterated the importance of having their best hitters get to the plate as many times as possible and thus batting near the top of the order.

The series finale played out like many other games have recently. Starter Zach Eflin pitched well, permitting only three runs on six hits with six strikeouts over 5 2/3 walk-free innings before he was lifted after 88 pitches. But by the time he gave up a two-run double to William Contreras in the third and a solo homer to former Ray Willy Adames in the sixth, the game practically felt out of reach.

Through seven innings, the Rays were limited to four hits -- two of which left the infield -- and had advanced only two runners to third base.

“It's tough. We've just got to play better baseball, all facets of the game. We've just got to come together and produce,” said outfielder Richie Palacios, who had two hits and a steal on Wednesday, remaining one of the lineup’s few bright spots. “I know we're trying hard, obviously. Sometimes we try too hard. But we try to go out there and play a better brand of baseball.”

The Rays avoided being shut out for the first time this season when Palacios scored on an eighth-inning wild pitch by Abner Uribe, the reliever who was ejected Tuesday night for his role in causing the benches-clearing fracas.

• Siri, Uribe, Peralta suspended for Rays-Brewers fracas

The bullpen couldn’t settle things down, either, as Erasmo Ramírez allowed Adames’ second three-run homer in as many days. And in the end, the Rays lost by at least six runs for the eighth time this year, matching their total from all of last season.

“It's been a difficult month, I'd say, on all sides of the ball,” Eflin said. “We've just got to do a better job of playing together … showing some energy, playing with some passion. Those are things that we can control, so we're going to get there.”

Of course, it’s hard for the Rays to muster much excitement when they’re scuffling through games the way they have been lately. But they know the best way to get that energy back in their dugout.

“When you win, that energy just kind of comes,” Díaz said. “When you're going bad and things are going negative, it seems like you need that energy double.”