ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays needed a game like the one they played Friday night.

The hits came early, often and from everyone. Starter Zach Eflin worked deep into the game. The bullpen didn’t let the game get even remotely interesting. It almost felt like April again at Tropicana Field, as the Rays put together an all-around dominant performance in an 11-3 rout of the Royals.

After dropping four of their past five games, and seven of their last 12, capped by a wild Thursday that saw star shortstop Wander Franco benched and ace Shane McClanahan injured before they blew two late leads in a 6-5 loss, Friday night felt like a return to form.

“It’s been a little bit of a grind here lately, finding ways to win games, and we probably needed a game like that,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We were able to find a way to separate it and put a bunch of runs on the board.”

Indeed, the Rays piled on double-digit runs for the first time since May 28 and only the second time since April 29. They racked up 17 hits, matching their season high. Everyone in the lineup recorded at least one hit, and six different players had multiple hits.

“It's nice,” said Taylor Walls, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. “I guess everybody's happy when everybody's swinging it well.”

The Rays improved to 53-26 overall and 33-9 at Tropicana Field this season. They are only the sixth team since 1979 to win at least 33 of their first 42 home games, joining the 1998 Yankees and Padres, the 2008 Cubs, the 2019 Dodgers and last year’s Yankees.

Tropicana Field has been especially kind to Eflin, who is now 8-0 with a 2.17 ERA in eight home starts for Tampa Bay. The right-hander’s outing didn’t begin well, as he served up a leadoff home run to Nick Pratto -- the first homer he’d given up since May 20 -- then allowed a game-tying, two-run shot to Salvador Perez in the third.

But Eflin settled down after that, didn’t allow another run and wound up working six innings with seven strikeouts for his eighth quality start of the season.

“Felt like I grinded, and it was a pretty gritty outing,” said Eflin, crediting catcher Christian Bethancourt for keeping him in the game. “Obviously it was awesome to watch the guys get 17 hits, put a lot of runs up ... so I thought it was a really good team win today.”

Center fielder Jose Siri was responsible for Eflin’s early run support. Facing veteran starter Zack Greinke with two on and one out in the second inning, Siri smashed a 2-0 cutter over the plate and sent it a Statcast-projected 394 feet out into the left field seats. Siri held his bat aloft as he watched the ball fly into the left-field seats then flipped it end over end toward the Rays’ dugout.

“That's just what happens. It happens natural,” said a smiling Siri through interpreter Manny Navarro. “Normally I just like to put the bat down and run, but that one -- I got that one.”

Siri, who gave the Rays a lead they wouldn’t relinquish with a fourth-inning RBI single, has been getting a lot of them this season. The 27-year-old has hit 13 home runs -- tied for second-most on the team behind Randy Arozarena -- while driving in 33 runs, both career highs, in 46 games.

“I think that strength has always been there. I've always been able to hit the ball far. I've always had the power,” said Siri, who finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs. “I don't think it's just the one year I've been able to showcase it, but I think I've always had it. I'm just able to have it this year.”

The Rays broke the game open with a four-run fifth that started with a one-out bunt single by Manuel Margot. Josh Lowe, who finished with three hits, kept it going with a single to center. Harold Ramírez followed with an RBI single, and Isaac Paredes walked to load the bases against reliever Jose Cuas. Walls tacked on a two-run single, then Bethancourt made it an 8-3 game with a double to center.

The Rays piled on three more runs in the eighth on run-scoring hits by Margot, Arozarena and Ramírez.

“We've had some guys here as of late that it hasn't been coming easy for,” Cash said. “They made it look easy for a long time, and it's not easy. So, happy that they found their way to find some green out there and get some hits.”