ST. PETERSBURG — Richie Palacios’ 65.7 mph bloop single dropped into shallow right field Saturday at Tropicana Field, ending the Rays’ 0-for-33 skid with runners in scoring position against the Red Sox and sending Tampa Bay to a 2-1 walk-off victory before a crowd of 27,402 — their third walk-off win of their final regular-season homestand.

The hit, Palacios’ second career walk-off, scored Junior Caminero from third in the ninth inning and pushed the Rays’ lead in the American League East to 4½ games with eight games remaining, pending the outcome of the Yankees’ game in Arizona Saturday night.

“Just praying it drops. That’s all you’re doing,” Palacios said. “We’re just relentless. No matter what’s going on in the game, we always feel like we have a chance to win. Three walk-offs is amazing, and we’re just going to continue to do what we do.”

The victory was Tampa Bay’s seventh in their last eight games and their AL-leading 39th come-from-behind win of the season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Rays had not recorded three walk-off wins in a single homestand since Sept. 20-25, 2019. A win in the AL East would be their first division title since 2021.

Palacios, who has slashed .297/.395/.730 with five homers and 14 RBIs in September, stepped in with two outs, the game tied and Caminero on third and Chandler Simpson on second after singles off Garrett Whitlock and a passed ball. He fell behind 1-2 before dropping the sinker into the gap between converging outfielder Wilyer Abreu and second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa. “I don’t put extra pressure on it,” Palacios said. “I just have the same approach that I usually do, and then sometimes it’s not going to work out — and today it did.”

Palacios has driven in 53 runs this season, ranking fourth on the club behind Junior Caminero (97), Jonathan Aranda (92) and Yandy Díaz (81). Remarkably, 28 of his 53 RBIs have come with two outs, and his 24 two-out RBIs with runners in scoring position lead the team.

Aranda provided the offense that made the walk-off possible, hitting a game-tying homer off Boston starter Brayan Bello in the fourth inning. Starter Freddy Peralta held the Red Sox to one run in 5⅔ innings, with his fastball averaging 96.4 mph — up 2.2 mph from his season-long mark. Peralta has posted a 0.94 ERA and 0.70 WHIP across five starts since Aug. 26. Relievers Kevin Kelly, Cam Booser, Cole Sulser and Bryan Baker kept the game tied through the ninth.

“It’s very encouraging. It’s a good feeling,” manager Kevin Cash said. “You want to get as many reps at that as possible, because we know the games that we’re going to continue playing this year are going to be against good teams and in tight ballgames.”

Caminero, who ended each of Tampa Bay’s previous two walk-off wins with home runs, added a defensive gem in the ninth, retiring Kiner-Falefa after a two-out triple by Jarren Duran. “All these games matter a ton, and we’ve done a really good job of just staying true to ourselves and meeting the moment,” Caminero said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “We’ve done a really good job, and hopefully we close things out here soon.”

The Rays travel to Yankee Stadium next week for what could serve as a division-clinching series, with Tampa Bay needing to hold its 4½-game lead over eight remaining games to secure the AL East crown.