ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays have played better lately, winning four of their last six games and 10 of their last 17. They¡¯ll return to Tropicana Field on Sunday with a chance to secure their fourth straight series victory, which would be their longest streak since last August.

But for all they¡¯ve done well, the Rays still can¡¯t seem to push themselves to the right side of .500.

After pulling back to the break-even point by winning Friday¡¯s series opener, the Rays¡¯ bats went quiet and reliever Shawn Armstrong had a nightmarish seventh inning in an 8-1 loss to the Nationals at Tropicana Field on Saturday afternoon.

The Rays fell to 41-42, which means they will finish June either at .500 or two games below. Tampa Bay hasn¡¯t owned a winning record since entering play with a 25-24 mark on May 21.

¡°I feel like we've been playing incredible baseball,¡± Brandon Lowe said. ¡°I don't think that we should be worried about a loss here and there right now.¡±

Still, there were some concerning developments in Saturday¡¯s defeat. The Rays were held to one run or less for the 13th time in 83 games this season, with Lowe¡¯s first-inning solo shot accounting for their only run.

And while starter Aaron Civale permitted only two runs on six hits and four walks over 5 2/3 innings, keeping the Rays in the game despite not having his best command, the lack of run support sent him to his sixth loss and extended his winless streak to 14 starts.

Then it all fell apart in the seventh inning.

Armstrong allowed a career-high six runs and seven hits, retiring just one of the eight batters he faced. The Rays had not allowed six runs in an inning since the Red Sox tallied six in the sixth on June 3, 2023, at Fenway Park. They hadn¡¯t yielded that many hits in one inning since Toronto racked up nine in the ninth on May 23, 2023.

¡°When you have an outing like he did today, I mean, it just seems like they were on attack mode and did not miss a pitch,¡± Rays manager Kevin Cash said. ¡°The best thing I would suggest, and I know Army knows this, is get back out there and continue throwing strikes. His stuff plays, and it's really, really good.¡±

It happened quickly, as the Nationals did all their damage within 20 pitches from Armstrong. And it could have been worse had Edwin Uceta not quickly and efficiently ended the inning in relief of Armstrong.

¡°There's not one guy in this clubhouse that is worried about what Army's gonna bring to the table next time that he comes out,¡± Lowe said. ¡°So chalk it up to a bad outing. Whatever it was, I know that he's gonna figure it out and be lights-out in his next outing.¡±

Jacob Young started the rally with a single to right. CJ Abrams launched an RBI double off the top of the left-field fence, just short of a home run. Then came consecutive singles from Lane Thomas and Jesse Winker.

The hardest-hit ball of the inning was an out, as Jose Siri made another excellent catch on Joey Meneses¡¯ 104.2 mph drive to center field. But Luis Garc¨ªa Jr. followed with an RBI single, then former Ray Harold Ram¨ªrez blasted a two-run triple to right-center.

Finally, Keibert Ruiz swatted a fastball, up and outside the strike zone, to left field for an RBI single.

¡°I feel like we're a fastball-hitting team, and I think the pitcher was obviously throwing that pitch consistently,¡± Garc¨ªa said through Nationals interpreter Octavio Martinez.

Armstrong, who gave up two runs on June 18 and two more in his last outing on Wednesday, left the clubhouse after the game without speaking to reporters.

¡°I feel for Army. I know he's going through a little bit of a tough stretch right now,¡± Cash said. ¡°We're asking him to throw strikes. We certainly want him to control the count and get ahead of hitters, and he did that. The Nationals, for whatever reason, they were really ready to go today. I mean, they sprayed the ball around pretty good.¡±

Meanwhile, the Rays went 20 plate appearances between their only two hits: Lowe¡¯s first-inning homer off Nationals starter Jake Irvin and Randy Arozarena¡¯s seventh-inning single against reliever Derek Law. Yandy D¨ªaz finished 0-for-4, ending his franchise-record hitting streak at 20 games and his career-best on-base streak at 29 despite recording three hard-hit outs, including the two hardest-hit balls of the game.

Irvin, who recorded his 11th quality start of the season, held the Rays to Lowe¡¯s homer and three walks while striking out five over six innings.

¡°He was tough,¡± Cash said. ¡°We just couldn't get anything going off of him.¡±