Rays 4, Red Sox 3: Wil Myers doubled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and Evan Longoria scored twice as host Tampa Bay avoided a three-game sweep against Boston and held onto its wild-card lead.

Jake McGee (5-3) struck out two in a perfect eighth to earn the win in relief and Fernando Rodney worked around a pair of base runners in the ninth for his 34th save for the Rays, who remain one game ahead of the New York Yankees in the race for the second American League wild card. Desmond Jennings added a solo home run as Tampa Bay won for just the fifth time in 18 games.

The Red Sox brought on Rubby De La Rosa (0-1) with one out in the eighth and he promptly served up a double to Longoria before Myers dropped a double down the right-field line two batters later. David Ortiz and Jarrod Saltalamacchia each homered for Boston, which leads the Rays by 8 1/2 games in the AL East.

Tampa Bay jumped out to a 2-0 lead with runs in the second and third before the Red Sox got on the board with Saltalamacchia’s solo home run to right in the fourth. The Rays got that run back in the bottom of the frame, when Jennings drove a 1-2 slider from Jake Peavy deep into the left-field seats.

Ortiz pulled the Red Sox to within 3-2 with an opposite-field blast to left-center leading off the sixth, and Stephen Drew’s RBI double off Jamey Wright later in the inning tied the game.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Peavy was reached for three runs on four hits while matching a season high with five walks in six innings for the Red Sox. Jeremy Hellickson started for Tampa Bay and struck out seven while yielding three runs on four hits in 5 1/3 frames. … Longoria doubled and tripled, giving him four extra-base hits in the last two games. … Boston returns home to host the New York Yankees on Friday while the Rays begin a road trip at Minnesota.