ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The final outcome Friday night likely didn’t cause A’s manager Bob Melvin to lose any sleep.

The struggles of his starting pitcher might have.

Tyson Ross turned in another all-too-brief outing in the A’s 7-2 loss to Tampa Bay.

Considering the Rays are baseball’s hottest team and had ace David Price on the hill, Melvin could live with the defeat.

Ross’ struggles would appear more cause for concern after the right-hander gave up seven runs and nine hits in just 3﻿1/3 innings.

“I just didn’t think his command within the strike zone was good,” Melvin said.

Had Ross been on top of his game, it might not have mattered. That’s because Price (5-1) looked like a Cy Young Award contender, striking out 12 and allowing just three hits over eight innings.

He struck out every hitter in the A’s lineup at least once, helping the Rays win their sixth straight and move to a remarkable 13-1 at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay is the 11th team in major league history to win 13 of its first 14 home games.

But Ross (1-2) could not keep the score close, even after being staked to a 1-0 lead in the second on Kurt Suzuki’s run-scoring double.

When something negative happened, Ross compounded things.

He got called for a balk in the third to advance runners to second and third, then allowed a two-run single to Luke Scott to give the Rays a 3-1 lead.

After left fielder Michael Taylor couldn’t haul in a catchable blooper off the bat of Will Rhymes in the fourth, Jose Molina hit the next pitch for a two-run homer as part of a four-run Tampa Bay rally.

“Molina hits a first-pitch slider — he’s got to get that to the other side of the plate,” Melvin said of Ross. “But I thought it all revolved around his fastball today. When (catcher Suzuki) was calling away, he was missing sometimes inside.”

Ross gave up 11 hits and nine runs in his previous start at Baltimore but at times was the victim of grounders that found holes. Nonetheless, he’s surrendered a combined 20 hits and 16 earned runs over his past two starts (7﻿1/3 innings).

He became the first A’s starter to allow seven or more runs in back-to-back starts since Ben Sheets in 2010.

“I just need to do a better job getting ahead of hitters,” Ross said. “My whole game plan out there is to get ahead, get a nice ground ball for the defense. I didn’t do a good job of that, and you saw the result.”

The A’s had momentum after taking two of three at Boston, but Price neutralized their bats. He spotted a fastball that touched 96 mph and complemented it with a good cutter and changeup.

“He looked a lot better than when I left him in ’08,” said A’s designated hitter Jonny Gomes, who played for Tampa Bay from 2003-08. “Electric stuff. There’s not a lot of (pitchers like Price), so there’s not anybody to compare him to.”

The ringing cowbells that accompanied every Price strikeout made the crowd of 18,799 seem bigger. If you think the A’s attendance problems are bad, consider the Rays’ situation.

They are a major league-best 19-8 and winning at home at a historic rate. Yet their recently completed four-game series against the Seattle Mariners drew 40,842 — total.

Taylor, recalled from Triple-A Sacramento with Coco Crisp going on the 15-day disabled list, started in left field. Melvin indicated Taylor will get his first extended shot at big league playing time. The A’s face lefties in two of their next three games. It’s a good time to play the right-handed hitting Taylor, who was hitting .347 with two homers and 18 RBIs in 23 games for Sacramento. Melvin suggested this is the best opportunity that Taylor, 26 — once considered one of the game’s best prospects — might get to prove himself. “He’s been tearing it up,” Melvin said. “From what I’m hearing from the front office, this is a good time to find out what Michael Taylor has to offer.” Taylor went 0 for 3 with a strikeout. When he got the call Wednesday that he was being promoted, he was in a movie theater watching “Think Like A Man.” He immediately left to go pack. “I saw about seven minutes of it,” Taylor said. “We got our money back.” Crisp continues to have complications from an inner ear infection, and he flew back to the Bay Area and was scheduled to be examined by A’s physician Dr. Allan Pont.

Suzuki was in the lineup despite getting hit with a pitch on the left hand Wednesday that required X-rays. They showed no fracture.

The plan remains for Manny Ramirez to embark on a 10-game minor league assignment as it gets closer to May 30, the day his 50-game suspension ends. Ramirez remains at extended spring training in Phoenix. Melvin said Ramirez’s will see increased at-bats as his assignment gets closer.