ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays began this month in an ideal position. On July 2, they were 57-29, with a season-high 6 1/2-game lead in the American League East. Their lineup was a homer-hitting, basestealing machine, and their pitching staff was among the best in baseball.

But a brutal three-week stretch has left the Rays reeling. After a 5-3 loss to the Orioles on Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay (61-42) is two games behind Baltimore (61-38) in the AL East -- four back in the loss column -- and in desperate need of something to spark a struggling lineup.

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The Rays fell to 4-14 this month. With six games to go against the Marlins, Astros and Yankees before August, they’re on pace for the franchise's worst month since its 2008 turnaround. (The 2015 and ‘16 Rays both went 9-16 in July.) And the Orioles aren’t slowing down, having won 12 of 15 games to claim the top spot in the division.

“I think we still have a lot of time. We still have about two months or so to go,” first baseman Yandy Díaz said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “We've just got to stay focused and stay positive, and I think we're going to come out of it.”

It didn’t happen in Sunday’s series finale, as the Rays’ lineup couldn’t carry any momentum forward after a late rally that ultimately fell short Saturday afternoon. Tampa Bay worked six walks and had two batters hit by pitches, but it managed only three hits -- and just one before the ninth inning.

The Rays scored once in the fourth on a pair of walks and a groundout by Brandon Lowe, then Díaz made it a 3-3 game in the fifth with a two-run homer -- his career-high-tying 14th of the season -- off Orioles starter Tyler Wells.

Rays starter Taj Bradley allowed three runs in the first two innings, but then he retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced to get through five. Reliever Colin Poche yielded a go-ahead homer in the sixth to Ryan O’Hearn, who hit a solo shot off the foul pole in left that would have been a home run in only two of 30 Major League ballparks, according to Statcast: Yankee Stadium and Tropicana Field.

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay’s lineup went quiet once again. The Rays struck out 11 times, went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base as they dropped to 3-6 against the Orioles this year. It was the 11th time in 18 games this month that they scored three runs or fewer.

“This offense is too good to go that quiet for so long,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Yandy picked us up, but I'd like to think that we can have some better at-bats collectively to put a little bit more pressure on the pitchers.”

The Rays did that remarkably well the first three months of the season, slashing a collective .265/.338/.464 while averaging 5.6 runs per game through June. This month, they’re slashing .208/.277/.360 while averaging 3.39 runs.

“I'm guessing every guy in there right now is feeling a sense of urgency of wanting to contribute and wanting to have that big swing that gets us going,” Cash said. “It's just not coming right now.”

While Díaz has found ways to contribute, the Rays’ other two All-Star hitters -- Randy Arozarena and Wander Franco -- have played major parts in the club’s overall offensive downturn.

Arozarena went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout on Sunday, bringing his July slash line to .191/.233/.324 with four walks and 21 strikeouts. Franco is slashing .182/.267/.303 this month after going 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.

Plenty of others have struggled, too. Harold Ramírez has a .523 OPS this month. Josh Lowe and Manuel Margot each has a .508 OPS, and Christian Bethancourt is slashing .167/.219/.167 in July.

“Our pitching has been outstanding. I think, offensively, we've got to support them a little more,” Bethancourt said. “At the beginning of the season, we were hitting, [and the] pitching was just not quite there. Now, pitching is there, and we're just not quite hitting. But we'll find a way to get back together.”

There are still 59 games remaining, with six to go before the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline. So where do the Rays go from here?

“We enjoy our day off tomorrow, first of all, and get back at it on Tuesday,” Bethancourt said. “Try to win two games against the Marlins and take it from there.”