En route to taking a three games to none lead over the Astros in the American League Championship Series, the Rays seemingly did everything right. They made every play on defense, they made big pitches and they had timely hits.

That’s why when Willy Adames lifted a Ryan Pressly pitch to deep left-center in the ninth inning, there was almost no doubt that the Rays’ shortstop had tied the game with another dramatic moment. The ball had an exit velocity of 101.2 mph and a launch angle of 24 degrees -- balls hit similarly in terms of exit velocity plus launch angle are home runs about 40% of the time, according to Statcast.

But instead of another magical moment for Tampa Bay, the ball hit the bottom of the left-center-field wall at Petco Park as Adames settled for an RBI double. Five pitches later, Pressly got Yoshi Tsutsugo to fly out to right as the Rays lost, 4-3, in Game 4 on Wednesday, unable to complete a sweep of the Astros. They will have another chance to close out the ALCS in Game 5 on Thursday.

• Box score

“The ball has been flying pretty good here so I thought I had a chance, but I didn’t get it good enough to hit it out of the park,” Adames said. “It just didn’t happen, but we have tomorrow to finish it off and we’re going to come tomorrow with an aggressive mindset.”

Though Adames nearly bailed the Rays out with one swing of the bat, Tampa Bay didn’t get much going offensively against Astros starter Zack Greinke and rookie standout Cristian Javier. That continues to be a theme for the Rays in the playoffs, despite the success.

Randy Arozarena continued to be the breakout star in the postseason, launching his fifth home run in 11 games, a two-run shot to tie the score at 2 in the fourth inning against Greinke. Arozarena’s homer is all the Rays had to show for offensively until Adames’ two-out RBI double.

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“We’ve got to get the bats going, no doubt about it,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “We’ve been carried here by our pitching and defense, which that’s how we’re built, but it sure would be nice to find a way to get the bats going and keep the line moving a little bit.”

The Rays had seven hits but were never able to piece together a winning rally, something they’ve been able to do throughout the postseason. Tampa Bay went down in order four times, with its best chance to score coming in the sixth inning.

Manuel Margot and Austin Meadows hit one-out singles off Greinke, setting the stage for Arozarena. But for seemingly the first time this postseason, Arozarena struck out in a big spot, getting rung up on a check swing for the second out.

“I personally don’t think I went on that swing,” Arozarena said. “We’re all human beings, and I think the umpire made a mistake on that call.”

After allowing an infield single to Ji-Man Choi, Greinke was able to get out of the jam by striking out Mike Brosseau, leaving the bases loaded.

“I wouldn’t say anybody’s getting pressure,” Adames said, when asked about the offense. “We hope that everybody could be hitting good and that everyone was killing it, but that’s not the way it goes. There’s going to be guys that are going to struggle and there’s going to be guys that are successful -- that’s how baseball is and that’s why we’re a team.”

Despite holding a 3-1 lead in the series, the Rays are going to have to get more consistent production out of their offense. Houston has outhit Tampa Bay in three of the four games in the series and has recorded 14 more hard-hit balls (41-27). With 11 strikeouts on Wednesday, the Rays have struck out 46 times in the four games, including 10 or more punchouts in three of the four.

“Right now, it’s not coming easy for really anybody, with the exception of a couple guys,” Cash said. “We’ve got guys in our lineup that are just scuffling. That was encouraging to see Austin Meadows with the at-bats he had. He had a good day.”

The Rays came into Game 4 knowing just how difficult it would be to eliminate the Astros, a team that has four straight ALCS appearances, including a World Series title in 2017. Tampa Bay couldn’t capitalize with Tyler Glasnow on the mound in Game 4, and now both teams will rely heavily on their respective bullpens in Game 5, which, on paper, gives the Rays an advantage. But if the Astros get another win on Thursday, Houston will have Framber Valdez and Lance McCullers Jr. ready for Games 6 and 7, creating even more of a sense of urgency.

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The Rays remain confident in the offense, but they’re going to have to step up on Thursday if they want to wrap up the night by celebrating the second AL pennant in franchise history.

“We still feel good, we’re still really happy,” Arozarena said. “We knew it was going to be a tough series and we’re playing against another really good team, and they’re trying to win just like us. It just didn’t happen today.”