ST. PETERSBURG -- With the Red Sox returning to Tropicana Field for Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Thursday for the first time since early September, the stakes are higher -- but the stress level is lower.

When Boston was here from Aug. 30-Sept. 2, things were a mess.

A COVID-19 outbreak took several key players from the club at once, and manager Alex Cora was trying to piece together his roster and lineup on an hour-to-hour basis.

It’s hard to forget that moment when Xander Bogaerts walked off the field in the third inning of the Aug. 31 game at the Trop after his COVID-19 test came back positive, and the dispirited Red Sox giving up six runs in the bottom of the inning without their leader.

“Yeah, I mean, a month ago we didn't even know who was going to play for us, and throughout the series, you know, they took players out of the roster because of where we were [with COVID-19],” said Cora. “This is a lot different than a month ago. Way, way different.”

The Red Sox were not only losing players, but they were losing games, including the first two of that four-game series at Tropicana Field.

Without Bogaerts, Kiké Hernandez, Christian Arroyo, Matt Barnes, Hiroakazu Sawamura, Josh Taylor and others, Boston was in danger of losing its footing in the AL Wild Card race. But something big happened. The Red Sox found a way to scratch out wins in the final two games of that pivotal road series against the Rays.

Chris Sale set the tone in a 3-2 win in the third game, and Eduardo Rodriguez, who was named the ALDS Game 1 starter, was magnificent in the 4-0 victory in the finale that gave the Sox a key split of the series.

Those two consecutive wins were accomplished with a double-play combination few could have ever predicted -- second baseman Jack López (a Minor League veteran) and shortstop Jonathan Araúz (2020 Rule 5 Draft selection).

“You know, the first two games, although we lost, those kids that came up, they reset our bullpen,” said Cora. “It was pretty taxed after the series at home, and going to Cleveland. And then, you know, we played some kids that nobody expected us to play, and they played good defense up the middle, and we beat them the last two games.”

After a 12-16 August, the Sox went 17-11 over their final 28 games despite the COVID-19 issues that stretched into the middle of September before at last subsiding.

When the Red Sox got their roster back together for the final stretch, Cora and his players frequently mentioned finding a way to win those final two games on the road against the Rays as a key to the season.

“We've been able to just overcome challenges whenever there's an injury or anything that we have to deal with,” said star third baseman Rafael Devers. “It was always a next-man-up approach, and guys were hustling. And whenever someone had to step in for somebody else, they handled their role the way that they were supposed to, and that's just how we were able to just maintain our unity as a team and overcome all the obstacles that we had this season, and that's why we're here today.”

Though the Red Sox once led the Rays by 4 1/2 games in the AL East, they ended up finishing eight games out. Despite that, Boston comes into this series with confidence it can play with Tampa Bay. The Rays won 11 of the 19 head-to-head encounters between the squads, but the aggregate score of all the games was just 106-104 in favor of Tampa Bay.

“So I know they won the season series, but if you look at the games, you know, there was a 1-0 game with a wild pitch in the ninth inning,” said Cora. “There was a sun ball at Fenway when we were up 7-1 [and lost]. I know they're really good. They have a great team. And coming into the season, a lot of people thought that they were the best team in the big leagues, but we feel we have a good team, and we're here. We'll show up. We'll play and see where it takes us.”