The tension was magnified when the Rays built a 3-2 lead on Garrett Crochet through six innings.

Ceddanne Rafaela, who was 4 for 5, singled leading off the seventh inning before Jarren Duran cracked a home run to right off lefthander Garrett Cleavinger.

The Sox then sent 13 men to the plate in a seven-run eighth inning.

Romy Gonzalez doubled and scored on a single by Nate Eaton. After Nathaniel Lowe walked, Rafaela singled in a run. Duran singled to load the bases.

Runs then scored on an error, a bases-loaded walk to Masataka Yoshida, another error, and a hit by pitch. It was a mess for the Rays and nirvana for the Red Sox.

The 11 runs were their most since an 11-7 victory against Cleveland on Sept. 2. That was the game when Roman Anthony suffered a strained left oblique and had to be placed on the injured list.

The big inning allowed the Sox to use Zack Kelly and Chris Murphy to finish up the game, letting Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman get what should prove to be a beneficial day off.

Murphy walked two with an eight-run lead then allowed a grand slam by Everson Pereira with two outs. Two singles followed and suddenly the tying run was on deck.

Murphy managed to strike out Josh Lowe to finally end the game.

The Sox are 9-2 against the Rays this season with seven consecutive victories.

Crochet had his best start of the season against the Rays on July 12 at Fenway Park, throwing a three-hit shutout and striking out nine without a walk.

But only two of the Rays in the lineup for that game faced Crochet on Friday.

One of them, Yandy Diaz, doubled to left field in the first inning and scored on a two-out single by catcher Nick Fortes.

The Sox tied the game in the second inning against Drew Rasmussen thanks to the speed of Eaton.

He led off with a single to right field, then came all the way around on a single to center field by Nathaniel Lowe.

Eaton was running on the pitch and easily went to third. Third-base coach Kyle Hudson took a chance and waved him around. Center fielder Pereira made a one-hop throw to the plate but Eaton's headfirst slide evaded the tag.

The Rays came right back with a home run to right field by rookie Carson Williams in the bottom of the inning. Crochet left a cutter over the plate that Williams lined 331 feet to right field.

It would not have been a home run in any other park but cozy Steinbrenner Field.

Alex Bregman made it 2-2 with a home run to left field in the third. It was his second in 33 games.

Crochet gave the lead back when Diaz homered to right field leading off bottom of the inning. Crochet threw a sinker that stayed up and Diaz drilled a 365-foot shot for his 25th homer of the season.

Crochet worked around a throwing error by Trevor Story -- his third in two games -- in the sixth inning to keep it a one-run deficit.

That proved important as Rafaela led off the seventh inning with a single off Cleavinger and came around on Duran's home run to right field.

Red Sox offense comes to life in rout against Rays - The Boston Globe