The losing streak is up to three with Sunday's 1-0 loss at the Toronto Blue Jays, the lead is down to 1½ games. Hey, who wants to go to Boston for a few days?
Make no mistake, the Rays begin the biggest series in franchise history tonight against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Biggest, because the first-place Rays hear footsteps and those footsteps belong to the defending World Champions, who shaved four full games off the Rays lead in the American League East during the past seven days.
"We want to win," designated hitter Cliff Floyd said. "We have to."
Yes, the Rays have the cushion of winning the American League wild card, where their lead over the Minnesota Twins is nine games. But then they would open the playoffs on the road against the Los Angeles Angels, and who wants to do that?
No, it's better to win the division, which is why these next three nights are the biggest in team history. Better to leave town Wednesday night in first place with the Red Sox still in pursuit than in second with the momentum shifted to the Red Sox.
The Rays have yet to win at Fenway Park this season, having lost all six tries. Count the final two games in Boston last September and that losing streak is eight games.
"It's not an intimidation problem," manager Joe Maddon said. "We have not pitched well there yet. I just think as a group we haven't played our normal game - pitching, catching, hitting - and we have to get better at it."
The Rays have been outscored 45-16 this season in Boston. The Red Sox have a team batting average of .323 in those six games. The Rays are hitting .229 with 48 strikeouts.
It's a different story at Tropicana Field, where the Rays are 6-0 against the Red Sox. The teams meet at the Trop next Monday for a three-game series. The Red Sox will want to stop that losing streak just to prove they can win at the Trop. The Rays want to do the same this week in Boston.
"You have to think for our psyche, we need to win a game (in Boston) and feel good about ourselves and send them a message that we can play there," Floyd said.
Trouble is, the Rays are slumping, having lost five of their past six. Sunday's loss at Toronto marked the first time the Rays were swept since the All-Star break.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, are rolling, winning 12 of their past 15. They have scored 72 runs and are batting .335 in their past nine games.
And now they are home, where tonight's crowd will be their 456th consecutive sellout, passing the Cleveland Indians for the major league record.
"Hopefully it hypes us up," Floyd said of the atmosphere awaiting the Rays. "I'm hoping we get to the level they are at, because if we don't get to that level we're putting ourselves up for failure. If we were trying to catch those guys, we would be hyped. Just because we're not trying to catch them we still have to be hyped, we still have to be on top of our game."
And that's the problem. The Rays haven't played well at Fenway, where the Red Sox are 48-19 this season.
"They are good, and they have a very good home record just like we do, so a lot of teams are facing that same problem," Maddon said. "We're just trying to take this thing to another level, so we have to be able to beat them up there, also. I don't place any extra importance in it. But the accomplishment level among the group that we got that one win permits you to get to that next hurdle."
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