BOSTON — In a long, winding season, who could have possibly forecast that perhaps the most important Red Sox win of the year would come against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays?

Strange, but true.

Before the Red Sox could get dried off following an afternoon soaking and a brief delay to the start of last night’s game, they found themselves losing — first by four runs, then soon after, by seven.

“It didn’t start out looking real great,” said Terry Francona. “Down 8-1 is not really the formula.”

At the same time, the New York Yankees were winning — again. Had that set of circumstances continued, the Yankees would have pulled to within three games in the loss column, making this weekend’s series far more critical than it looked a week ago.

Imagine the panic. Consider the momentum the Yankees would bring into Fenway Friday. Think about the pressure that would have almost certainly fallen on the Red Sox when the series began.

But after being shutout for 11 consecutive innings by the Devil Rays, the Sox bats came out of storage. They broke through with a single run in the third, then scored them in bunches: four in the fourth, three in the fifth and another six in the sixth when they claimed the lead for the first time.

In the same game in which they once trailed by seven runs, the Red Sox eventually won by six, 16-10. It’s not often that you see a 13-run swing by one team. For that, the Red Sox can thank the majors’ worst bullpen.

Then again, the opposition was almost irrelevant last night. It could have been any team on the schedule, but this was about timing.

“Any win you can get at this point is big,” said Francona. “But we needed this one.”

Thanks to a 36-15 start — and, correspondingly, the Yankees’ two-month stumble out of the gate — the Red Sox pulled away early and discouraged all comers.

They owned a double-digit lead at the All-Star break and for some time, the division title — their first since 1995 — has seemed like something of a fait accompli. They have, after all, been in first place every day since first staking claim to the position on April 18, nearly five months ago. To find the last time the Sox held down first, uninterrupted, for that long a stretch, one has to go back to 1946.

Of course, it’s difficult to maintain a huge lead from start to finish. There are inevitable drop-offs that come from the attrition of a 162-game schedule. Injuries take their toll, slumps slow even the best of teams.

Yet the Sox never allowed anyone to get too close. Neither the Yankees nor anyone else had been closer than four games in the American League East standings. Just when it seemed the Sox might be vulnerable, just when it seemed they might be in position to be overtaken, they righted things.

Case in point: the sweep at the hands of the Yankees late last month. That brought the Yankees to within five games in the division. The momentum was all theirs.

But as soon as the Yankees made up ground, they gave it right back by dropping a series to these same pesky Devil Rays. At the same time, the Red Sox rebounded immediately and took advantage of a gift from the schedule-makers.

To their credit, the Yankees have not gone away, extending their winning streak to six straight last night, putting them in the wild-card lead with 2 ½ weeks in the season. Privately, the Red Sox expected they would have to deal with the Yankees before the season was over and this month has confirmed their expectations.

The Yankees haven’t given up thoughts of winning their 10th straight division title, though they’ll need another sweep this weekend just to keep that in play.

Last night, however, the Red Sox did their part. It wasn’t a must-win, but for Game No. 146, against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays of all teams, it somehow became pretty darn important. Like they have from the first few weeks of the season, the Red Sox passed this test.

Setting the pace since the middle of April, the Red Sox show no interest in giving up their lead now.

smcadam@projo.com