ST. PETERSBURG -- The pieces have always been there for David Festa. And he¡¯s continuing to put them all together at the big league level.

Some short-start hiccups have still been there for the rookie and one-time MLB Pipeline Top 100 prospect, but his success in this most recent -- and prolonged -- stay in the big leagues continued on Tuesday night with five more strong innings, though poor run support once again held the Twins back in a 2-1 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field.

¡°I feel confident,¡± Festa said. ¡°It¡¯s not an excuse, the rookie thing and all that. I¡¯m out there, and there is a reason I¡¯m out there. I need to give the team the best chance to win.¡±

The loss dropped Minnesota 4 1/2 games back of division-leading Cleveland in the AL Central, though the Twins still held the second Wild Card slot ahead of the Royals -- with both teams well clear of the chasing Red Sox.

Three rookies are jostling for position in a possible playoff rotation behind Pablo L¨®pez and Bailey Ober, and Festa is perhaps beginning to emerge from the pack with his eighth consecutive outing of three or fewer runs allowed. He allowed two earned runs in his five frames against the Rays while striking out seven to lower his ERA to 3.13 across that eight-outing stretch.

It¡¯s those strikeouts, too, that are proving consequential and could serve him well in higher-pressure situations. From the start of that eight-outing stretch on July 24, Festa¡¯s 32.8% strikeout rate ranked sixth among all MLB pitchers to have thrown at least 30 innings, ahead of big names like Chris Sale, Yusei Kikuchi and Tarik Skubal.

That¡¯s the sort of reason why Festa is so confident, and why the Twins¡¯ confidence in the 24-year-old continues to grow with every passing start.

¡°We see the promise and see the excitement there is with him,¡± catcher Ryan Jeffers said. ¡°The next step of growth is just finding what can get the consistency rolling. Thought he was really good tonight.¡±

As Festa said, there¡¯s a reason he¡¯s out there, and he¡¯s internalized that. That¡¯s why he speaks ruefully about the one-out walk to Josh Lowe that keyed the Rays¡¯ go-ahead rally in the fourth inning and why he lost sleep after the walk to Marcell Ozuna that ended his last start against Atlanta after six-plus outstanding frames.

There have been inconsistencies in his first three months in the big leagues, to be sure, but perhaps the biggest element of variance in Festa¡¯s game -- his issue with walks in the Minor Leagues -- has essentially been a non-factor in the big leagues, while the huge strikeout numbers have remained.

¡°I don¡¯t know what I can credit that to,¡± Festa said. ¡°I feel like I always thought I was confident and a strike-thrower. Obviously, in some outings, the walks became an issue. Then you look at a stretch and they were good. I¡¯m really happy with where the walks are at.¡±

The final element to catch up in Festa¡¯s game seems to be the consistency of keeping runners off the basepaths -- though the learning process in dealing with traffic is important now, while it¡¯s still the regular season, to gain experience in those spots for potential playoff scenarios.

¡°I think there's been some real ups and downs, which is to be expected with him,¡± Jeffers said. ¡°He'll show glimpses of how phenomenal he can be and how good he can be, and he'll lose it for a batter or two -- and then get back in there and strike out the side and finish the inning.¡±

That was again the case on Tuesday, when Festa allowed the leadoff runner to reach base in the first, second and fourth innings.

A key strikeout of Jos¨¦ Caballero helped Festa escape a jam with a runner on third and one out in the second, and another helped him complete the fourth -- though an errant dive by left fielder Austin Martin and a sharp grounder that skidded across the fast Tropicana Field infield turf ate up Carlos Santana at first base, both for RBI knocks that put the Rays ahead.

¡°It was kind of a little bit of a Tropicana Field-type of inning with some kind of interesting balls off the bat,¡± manager Rocco Baldelli said.

With Zebby Matthews experiencing growing pains and Simeon Woods Richardson perhaps showing some wear, Festa is surging -- and the Twins continue to be thrilled with what they see.