ST. PETERSBURG -- There might not be a team in baseball that needs an All-Star break reset more than the Rays do.

Shut down by starter Spencer Strider and done in by one rough inning for Taj Bradley against the Braves’ dynamic lineup, the Rays saw their losing streak reach seven games with a 6-1 defeat against Atlanta on Saturday night before a second straight sellout crowd of 25,025 at Tropicana Field.

Tampa Bay has been outscored, 37-17, during this skid, putting up just one run in four of the seven losses. It’s the Rays’ longest losing streak since they dropped seven in a row from June 15-22, 2021. They’ve lost 10 of 15, 13 of 19 and 16 of their past 26 games, including five straight at home for the first time since May 2018.

“I think our bodies might be a little tired. It's not an excuse,” Yandy Díaz, who had half of the Rays’ four hits on Saturday, said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “But I think we are all ready for the second half.”

The Rays are the seventh team since the first All-Star Game in 1933 -- and the first since the 1991 Twins -- to win at least 13 straight games and lose at least seven in a row within the first half of a season. As a result, the cushion Tampa Bay built with its 47-19 start to the season has all but vanished.

After winning 29 of their first 36 games, the Rays have played .500 baseball, with a 28-28 record since May 9. Entering Sunday’s first-half finale, Tampa Bay (57-35) is two games ahead of Baltimore in the American League East standings, but the two clubs are now even in the loss column.

The Braves, on the other hand, are in a stretch reminiscent of the Rays’ early season run. Atlanta has won 27 of its past 31 games, averaging 6.8 runs per game while hitting 74 homers during that stretch.

Bradley fully experienced their quick-strike offense in his five-inning outing. The rookie breezed through Atlanta’s lineup in order on 43 pitches through the first three innings, running his fastball up to 99.4 mph, then allowed four runs -- including three on a Sean Murphy homer -- while facing nine batters during a 38-pitch fourth.

Bradley said he felt better after this outing than his past few, taking confidence from how he started and finished. But he lamented the way he got outside of his game plan even after getting ahead of hitters in the fourth.

“Still would bet on Taj,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Keep getting in those counts, and he'll find a way to finish them off.”

The Rays’ most glaring weakness lately has been their inability to score like they did throughout the first two months of the season. They’ve been limited to one run or fewer in three straight games for the first time since April 13-15, 2016, and they were throttled Saturday by the strikeout artist Strider, whiffing on 25 of their 55 swings during his 6 1/3 innings.

The Rays’ best chance to strike came and went in the first inning. When Luke Raley pulled a one-out double to right field, speedy Wander Franco appeared to either lose track of the ball or be fooled by shortstop Orlando Arcia. He stopped hard at second base as the ball sailed into the outfield, then dashed to third.

Cash said Franco wouldn’t have scored on the hit regardless, as the Rays wouldn’t have tested the strong arm of right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr.

Franco didn’t move any further, as Randy Arozarena and Brandon Lowe went down swinging to strand both runners in scoring position. Strider then struck out each of Tampa Bay’s next five hitters and retired 14 of 15 between the first inning and the start of the sixth.

The Rays had only one more at-bat with a runner in scoring position the rest of the night, as Díaz hit a leadoff single and Arozarena walked with two outs in the sixth. But Lowe struck out, Strider’s 11th and final punchout of the night. Tampa Bay -- whose lone run came when Franco hustled around the bases from first after a groundout by Raley and a throwing error by first baseman Matt Olson in the eighth -- is hitless in its past 16 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

“It's tough to see signs [of progress] when you're facing Charlie Morton and Spencer Strider. They're really good pitchers,” Cash said. “We can hit good pitching. We're just not doing it right now. We're a good team. We'll stay positive and kind of try to find a way to win a game tomorrow and then head into the break and get it going again.”