ST. PETERSBURG -- Despite a 6-4 loss to the Blue Jays on Monday afternoon at Tropicana Field, the Rays feel they¡¯re in good position to make a second consecutive playoff appearance with 30 games left in the regular season.

At the halfway point, the Rays are 19-11, and they have a half-game lead over the Yankees in the American League East. Tampa Bay also has a 3 1/2-game lead over Toronto, which would be the No. 8 seed if the postseason began today.

¡°We have to be pretty pleased with where we¡¯re at 30 games in, given the injuries,¡± said Rays manager Kevin Cash. ¡°We have to find that consistency on defense, and probably more importantly than anything is getting guys healthy. Just find a way to get our guys back.¡±

? Box score

Let¡¯s take a look at four things we know about the Rays at the halfway point.

1. Snell looks healthy
Last season, Blake Snell struggled with his command and battled multiple injuries, but after striking out nine and allowing just two runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings on Monday, it¡¯s clear that the left-hander is healthy and is ready to be the team¡¯s ace once again.

Snell¡¯s buildup was slower than the rest of the starting staff, but he seemed to have benefited from it. Snell threw a season-high 101 pitches on Monday, and he won¡¯t be on an innings or pitches restriction moving forward.

¡°I feel good,¡± Snell said. ¡°Overall for me, there are things that I need to work on, but I¡¯m happy with not continuing the whole game as the first inning was, because I was bad. To get back in the zone and control at-bats, that was huge for me.¡±

2. The rest of the squad needs to get healthy, too
The Rays -- and every other team in the Majors -- expected to have some injuries during the condensed season, but nobody in the organization could¡¯ve braced themselves for what¡¯s happening to Tampa Bay's pitching staff.

The Rays have nine pitchers sidelined due to injury, with Yonny Chirinos, Andrew Kittredge, Colin Poche and Brendan McKay out for the season. Along with those four, Tampa Bay is without Opening Day starter Charlie Morton, its best reliever in Nick Anderson and key setup men Oliver Drake, Jos¨¦ Alvarado and Chaz Roe.

? Kevin Kiermaier's X-rays negative (foot) after HBP

While the Rays have been able to weather the storm, the club knows that in order to make a deep run into October, it¡¯s going to have to get some pitchers back over the next few weeks.

¡°I¡¯m happy with where we¡¯re at, but I¡¯m not at the same time because of all the injuries,¡± Snell said. ¡°A lot of guys that we rely on in that bullpen are hurt. Starters are hurt. It¡¯s just making it very tough. You have guys that we really need, we want, they¡¯re very good and they make us that much better. With all of them being hurt, it makes it very tough.¡±

3. Brandon Lowe is good
Though Lowe couldn¡¯t deliver with a big hit in the ninth inning on Monday, the Rays likely wouldn¡¯t be atop the standings without his contributions in the lineup. Tampa Bay leads the AL with 157 runs, and a lot of that success is because of Lowe.

In his first 29 games, Lowe batted .304 with nine home runs and 25 RBIs. His 1.075 OPS leads the team and his 1.8 bWAR is in the top 10 in the Majors. If Lowe continues this pace, he¡¯ll eclipse his career high in home runs (17), and he will make a pretty good case to be in the running for the 2020 AL Most Valuable Player Award.

4. The defense is looking for consistency
Finding consistency on defense is one thing that Cash would like to see in the second half. That was evident again in the loss to the Blue Jays.

The Rays showed that the potential is there, making a number of noteworthy plays. Kiermaier made a 5-star catch, according to Statcast, Brandon Lowe had a good play in foul territory in the second inning, and Willy Adames and Joey Wendle each made key plays in the infield.

But two errors in the late innings proved costly. The Rays came into Monday¡¯s game tied for 17th in Defensive Runs Saved. Last season, they were the fourth-best team in the AL, according to the defensive metric.

¡°We¡¯re a better defensive team than what we¡¯ve shown through 30 games,¡± Cash said. ¡°We¡¯ve got to improve that. I think the guys take full accountability. I take full accountability. ¡­ I think we¡¯re getting there, but we¡¯re not quite where we need to be yet.¡±

Up next
Tyler Glasnow and the Rays open a three-game set against the Orioles on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field. Glasnow allowed two runs in 4 2/3 innings in his last start against Baltimore on Aug. 1. The O's will counter with left-hander Tommy Milone. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Sun and MLB.TV.