ST. PETERSBURG -- After finishing their regular-season home schedule with yet another victory at Tropicana Field, the Rays are potentially one win away from clinching their first American League East championship since 2021.

The Rays jumped out to a big lead against the Red Sox in Sunday afternoon’s series finale and rolled to a 5-1 win, their 55th of the season in their rebuilt and restored home dome. They can eliminate the Yankees from the AL East race as soon as Tuesday.

In fact, winning just one game in Tuesday’s doubleheader at Yankee Stadium would secure the division title for the Rays because it would also give Tampa Bay the edge in the season series and, thus, the tiebreaker.

“We've given ourselves a really good opportunity moving forward. That's for sure,” said starter Drew Rasmussen, who will pitch Game 2 on Tuesday. “I mean, we've earned it over the last four or five months, and now we have the opportunity to finish up the regular season on a high note.”

First, they had to finish their regular-season home schedule on a similarly high note as they moved a season-high 35 games over .500 at 95-60.

The Rays’ first three batters loaded the bases against Red Sox lefty Patrick Sandoval, then Jonny DeLuca drove in two of them with a double to left. Junior Caminero and DeLuca immediately scored on a single by Chandler Simpson, giving Tampa Bay’s pitching staff a sizable lead. Victor Mesa Jr. added to their advantage in the fourth, ripping his 14th homer of the season out to right field.

Starter Griffin Jax hardly needed that kind of breathing room, as he struck out five over five scoreless innings. He ran into one jam in the fifth, loading the bases with two outs, but struck out Roman Anthony to finish another strong performance.

The victory capped an 8-1 homestand in which the Rays recorded three walk-off victories and won consecutive series against the Astros, A’s and Red Sox.

“This month hasn't been easy by any terms. Been playing teams either in the playoffs or fighting for playoff spots. So it's been a dogfight this month,” starter Nick Martinez said. “I think we just did a good job of staying focused on what we do best and and keeping our eyes ahead.”

The Rays will finish with a 55-26 record at the Trop this season, the third-highest home winning percentage in franchise history behind 2008 (57-24, .704) and the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign (20-9, .690).

Tampa Bay’s players, coaches and staff knew they would appreciate being back in their longtime home ballpark this season after spending last year playing outdoors at George M. Steinbrenner Field. They showed it on the field all season, and they’ll get more opportunities to display their homefield advantage in the postseason.

“They've really embraced being back at home, for sure,” manager Kevin Cash said. “And I'm glad that we're continuing to play well here and know that we're banked in for some postseason games here.”