The Tampa Bay Rays entered the World Series with a ton of positive momentum, beating the Cleveland Guardians in three consecutive games to win the American League Pennant for the third time in franchise history.

Unfortunately, that momentum has disappeared against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Rays had opportunities to leave American Family Field with at least one, if not two, wins, but are heading back to Tropicana Field down 2-0 in the series.

There are a lot of things that have contributed to them losing the first two games of the series that have to be ironed out if they are going to claw their way back into it. Playing at home, where they have been excellent, certainly helps.

Here are three of the biggest takeaways from the first two games of the series that Tampa Bay has to figure out.

High-leverage bullpen struggles

The biggest edge that the Rays could create in this series was with starting pitching. Beyond Jacob Misiorowski, Tampa Bay matched up incredibly well with the rest of the rotation. After Nick Martinez held his own against the National League Cy Young Award favorite, the Rays had to feel good with Drew Rasmussen taking the mound in Game 2.

Tampa Bay staked him to a 4-0 lead, but it wasn’t enough. The Brewers made him work, and he lasted only five innings, surrendering three earned runs and getting to the bullpen early. Ian Seymour and Tyler Wells, two of the high-leverage arms that manager Kevin Cash trusts, struggled again.

Both were charged with one earned run, with the run against Wells coming when Kevin Kelly surrendered a single. Pitching coach Kyle Snyder needs to help get that duo back on track, or Cash needs to consider going to another pitcher in high-leverage situations.

Milwaukee’s bullpen is dominant, so trying to match up against them for multiple innings is a losing recipe for the Rays.

Inconsistent offense

All season, the biggest issue Tampa Bay faced was their inability to consistently produce on offense beyond their Big 3 of Yandy Diaz, Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero. Those three have had their moments, and there have been some helpful players, but after scoring four runs in the first inning, they got shut out for eight straight frames.

In Game 1, they managed only two runs scored. This isn’t an explosive offense, but they have to find a way to generate production. Jonny DeLuca snapped a 0-for-17 streak in Game 2, and Victor Mesa Jr. is hitting .162 in the postseason.

Shaking things up a little and giving an opportunity to Cedric Mullins or Ryan Vilade could be in store in Game 3.

Clean up defense

The most uncharacteristic occurrence for the Rays has been their sloppy defense. Normally as fundamentally sound as any team, they haven’t been getting the job done on the margins, giving Milwaukee extra outs, and they have consistently taken advantage.

Tampa Bay hasn’t been as crisp as they normally are, with Jonathan Aranda making a few mistakes at first base. Chandler Simpson dropped a ball on a diving attempt in left field when he hit the ground.

The Brewers play a similar brand of baseball to the Rays, and right now, they are executing it at a higher level as well.