BOSTON -- The Rays' lineup did its job early and late Friday night.

Yandy Díaz blasted Michael Wacha’s first pitch of the game over the Green Monster. Ji-Man Choi snapped a month-long homerless drought with a two-run shot in the second inning. By the end of the third inning, Tampa Bay’s pitching staff was working with a three-run lead. In the eighth, the Rays scored four runs before the Red Sox managed to record an out.

The way the past two weeks went, that should have been enough to win. More than enough, actually, for a team that recorded a 1.65 ERA and only allowed more than three runs once over the previous 13 games. But it wasn’t enough in the Rays’ series opener against the Red Sox.

Left-hander Ryan Yarbrough struggled through an inefficient bulk-innings outing, the rest of the bullpen couldn’t settle the game down, and eight runs weren’t enough as Tampa Bay’s six-game winning streak ended with a 9-8 loss to Boston at Fenway Park, only the Rays’ third loss in their last 14 games.

“Especially when your team gives you eight runs, you're normally winning those games 100 percent of the time,” Yarbrough said. “The way we normally pitch, to kind of lose those games is definitely tough to swallow.”

Victories have typically come relatively easy for the Rays this season when they score first and score more than four runs. They were 53-17 entering Friday night when they got on the board first, and Friday was only their eighth loss in the 51 games they’ve scored at least five runs.

“We came in playing pretty well. We can't win them all,” Díaz said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “They came in swinging the bats, and they got the win.”

Díaz wasted no time swinging his bat, sending Wacha’s first-pitch sinker 411 feet out to left field for his fourth leadoff homer of the season. In the second, Choi connected on a fastball up and over the plate and launched it 431 feet to right-center for his first home run since July 27.

“Just happy for him. I think he's been wearing it pretty hard on his mind,” manager Kevin Cash said. “He's working really hard to get out of it, but encouraged that he was able to connect on one.”

The Rays only got one run out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation in the third, which stood out when they couldn’t make their early lead stand. Opener JT Chargois delivered a scoreless inning in his first career start, but Yarbrough -- who had a 2.90 ERA in seven outings since July 16 -- quickly ran into trouble.

Yarbrough allowed one run in the second, a homer to Franchy Cordero and a sacrifice fly in the fourth, then a hit and a walk before being pulled in the fifth. Overall, the lefty yielded eight hits and two walks and needed 81 pitches to record only 10 outs.

“It was one of those days where I was just really trying to battle myself a lot, really just not making those good, really competitive pitches,” Yarbrough said. “Longer at-bats, really letting guys see a bunch of different pitches, a lot of traffic on the bases.”

The bullpen couldn’t stop the bleeding, either. Right-hander Shawn Armstrong, who’d put together a 1.69 ERA over his last eight appearances, immediately gave up a pair of hits that tied the game then put the Red Sox ahead, 5-4.

Xander Bogaerts delivered the biggest hit off Armstrong, a three-run homer in the sixth. Jalen Beeks gave up another run in the seventh, which proved to be crucial, on an RBI triple by Alex Verdugo.

“It seemed like the Red Sox's lineup kind of got on a roll and didn't stop. A lot of pitches, a lot of hits,” Cash said. “Pulled Yarbs hoping that Armstrong could kind of keep it right there, but that aggressiveness and hitting balls hard didn't go away.”

Down by five runs, the Rays rallied for four in the eighth. David Peralta hit an RBI single to center, which Jose Siri followed with a 433-foot blast over the Monster. As much as they’ve won lately, the Rays never felt like they were out of it. But it was too little at first and too late in the end.

“The game's not over until the 27th out is made,” Díaz said through Navarro. “We tried the best that we could. We battled there to the end and we couldn't do it.”