TAMPA, Fla.— The Tampa Bay Rays had a lot go right over the previous week in winning six of seven games.

And then there was Tuesday night at Tropicana Field.

An infield single and an errant pickoff throw led to one run for the Texas Rangers. A homer by the No. 9-hitting catcher with an average under .100 provided another. A leadoff hit batter in the eighth sparked another.

And Rangers pitchers held the Rays to five hits.

The result was a 4-1 loss to the American League West leaders, and at least a one-day pause in the Rays’ efforts to expand their AL East lead, which was 2 1/2 games over the New York Yankees, who played later against the Chicago White Sox.

The loss dropped the Rays’ AL-leading record to 62-44.

The Rays were coming off back-to-back shutout wins over the Cleveland Guardians, but the streak got only to 19 innings before starter Griffin Jax gave up an unearned run in the second.

Evan Carter rolled a ball down the first base line that Jax scooped up, but bounced the throw past first for an infield single. Carter went to second when Jake Burger followed with a single to right.

Jax then made another errant throw, this one on a pickoff attempt to second, allowing the runners to advance. A fly ball to Chandler Simpson in medium depth left field was enough to get Carter home.

The Rangers extended the lead to 2-0 in the third.

Joc Pederson led off with a single and Wyatt Langford, the Trenton, Fla., native and former Florida Gator, followed with a double. Ezequiel Duran delivered a sac fly to score Pederson. The Rays kept it 2-0 with a good play by second baseman Richie Palacios and catcher Hunter Feduccia to get out Langford between home and third after an infield grounder.

The Rays, who didn’t have a baserunner against Texas starter Cal Quantrill until Aranda singled in the fourth, got on the board in the sixth. Yandy Diaz, coming off a 2 for 12 series vs. Cleveland, drew a one-out walk and Junior Caminero laced a two-out, 2-2 changeup to the left-center field gap for an RBI triple. That’s all they got as Cedric Mullins struck out.

Jax worked into the sixth, scattering five hits, allowing three walks, striking out a career-high matching 10.

Lefty Steven Matz, in his first outing since coming off the injured list for a sprained left ankle, made a costly mistake in the seventh, allowing a homer to Texas catcher Austin Wynns. That would be No. 9 batting, .085 hitting at-the-time Wynns, who is with his third big-league team, and fourth organization, of the season.

Veteran Craig Kimbrel hit Duran to start the eighth. Duran then stole second and scored on a single by Carter.

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