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Red Sox 8, Rays 2

Travis Shaw puts charge into Red Sox win

Hanley Ramirez slid safely across the plate ahead of Hank Conger’s tag in the fifth inning.Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It’s a little extreme to suggest such a thing with so many games left to play, but Tuesday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays had a definite must-win vibe for the Red Sox.

A run of six losses in eight games led manager John Farrell to call a team meeting on Monday night. No furniture was broken, but Farrell made it clear that the Sox were too talented to continue playing that way. He expected better.

Unsaid but understood was that Farrell wouldn’t be the manager much longer if the Sox kept tumbling through the standings.

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It fell on Rick Porcello, the starting pitcher on Tuesday, to replace words with action.

Porcello has sat through plenty of team meetings during his career but only a few times has he had to pitch the next day. It was more a feeling of urgency than pressure.

“It was out of the blue but you understand it’s needed,” Porcello said. “You don’t want a struggling team pointing fingers. But for me, I can only do what I can do.”

Porcello delivered, allowing one run over six innings as the Red Sox beat the Rays, 8-2. Travis Shaw backed him with three hits and five RBIs.

Now the Sox are 2-3 on what has been a turbulent road trip and they have David Price starting on Wednesday afternoon.

“Obviously there’s some determination to turn this around,” said Shaw, whose two-run double in the seventh inning was the biggest hit of the game.

“But outside noise, you don’t want it creeping in here too loud. It’s nice to come back with a statement game tonight and kind of get everybody to sleep easy tonight.”

Porcello escaped a potentially game-altering jam in the fourth inning and retired the final nine batters he faced, turning a 6-1 lead over to the bullpen. The righthander allowed five hits, walked three, and struck out eight, his most since April 20.

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Porcello is 9-2 with a 3.78 earned run average and the Sox are 11-5 in his starts. It’s time he got more credit outside the clubhouse.

“He’s been everything that we could have hoped,” Farrell said.

Porcello held the Rays scoreless over the first three innings, leaving two runners stranded in the third. Up 2-0, he nearly didn’t make it out of the fourth.

Desmond Jennings drew a leadoff walk before Oswaldo Arcia singled and Taylor Motter walked. Porcello then walked Nick Franklin to force in a run, missing with a full-count fastball.

As Matt Barnes warmed up quickly, Porcello regained his control. He struck out Hank Conger with a 94-m.p.h. fastball after falling behind 2 and 0. Logan Forsythe then popped up to shallow right field.

When Porcello struck out Brad Miller looking at fastball, he let out a roar as catcher Christian Vazquez pumped his fist. In all, Porcello threw 39 pitches in the inning but emerged still holding the lead.

“Once I got that one strikeout I was able to regain some confidence and be a little bit more effective,” Porcello said. “Once I got one out, I had a bunch of different ways I would get out of it.”

Porcello retired the next six batters in order on 20 pitches. The bullpen then set down nine of 10.

“He stayed in the moment,” Farrell said. “You saw him regroup a couple of times. He’d walk off the back of the mound, collect his thoughts [and] understand what the pitches were he wanted to execute.”

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Rays starter Chris Archer (4-11) came into the game 1-7 with a 5.67 earned run average in 12 career starts against the Sox. He was true to form, giving up four runs on seven hits and four walks over 6⅓ innings.

Shaw got the Red Sox going with a mammoth home run in the second inning, a 449-foot shot to right center. It was his eighth of the season, the first in a month.

Video: Travis Shaw HR

Mookie Betts doubled in the third inning and scored on a double by David Ortiz. It was a fly ball that should have been caught but was lost in the lights by Arcia.

It was the 1,704th career RBI for Ortiz, tying him with Hall of Famer Frank Thomas for 23d all-time.

Hanley Ramirez, who reached base five times, walked with two outs in the fifth and scored from first on a double down the line in right by Jackie Bradley Jr.

When Dustin Pedroia singled with one out in the seventh inning, Enny Romero replaced Archer. The inning built from there.

Ortiz singled and Pedroia took third. Ramirez singled scoring Pedroia as Ortiz eased into second.

Bradley grounded into a fielder’s choice, erasing Ramirez. But Shaw came through with a two-out double to right field. Ortiz trotted in from third and then toppled over onto the artificial turf while signaling Bradley to slide.

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As Ortiz laughed, Bradley popped up and the Sox had a 6-1 lead. Shaw added a two-run single in the ninth.

For a night, Farrell could exhale.

“I don’t know about urgency. We played with a lot of energy,” he said. “Even through this stretch, we’re fighting our way back in.”

Box score: Red Sox 8, Rays 2

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Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeteAbe.