“Everyone was jumping off the roofs of buildings: ‘He has to play third in order to hit,’ and all of that — he hits, he hits, he’s been hitting since 2017, there’s a reason they called him up that year,” said Cora. “The bat has spoken loud and clear since he got here, he has made an impact on this organization.

“He’s having an outstanding season. He keeps working at it. There were some flaws early on, spring training wasn’t perfect, we know that, and little by little he’s been building his swing.”

Devers went 4 for 6, raising his average to .299. He had a three-run homer in the sixth, and, in the Sox’ 13-run eighth, added an RBI single and a grand slam.

After a lackluster start from starter Brayan Bello, the Sox cleared their throat with a five-run sixth inning to go up, 6-2.

Then their flux capacitor kicked in in the eighth, when 16 plate appearances accounted for 13 runs — five off reliever Cionel Perez, and eight more off of infielder-turned-reliever-turned-punching bag Emmanuel Rivera.

The 13 runs marked the Red Sox’ biggest single-inning surge since they scored 14 runs in the first inning against the Marlins on June 27, 2003.

Cora was heartened by the team’s response after the midgame loss of Bregman.

“We’ve got to keep playing, nobody’s going to feel sorry for us, that’s how it works, right?” said Cora. “The lineup out there did an outstanding job, they took their walks, they put the ball in play.

“It’s a total team effort.”

Abraham Toro, who replaced Bregman at third base, pitched the ninth inning for the Red Sox. He allowed two runs on four hits and a walk.

The Sox’ offense had tallied just four hits, all singles, in the first five innings, before coming alive in the sixth.

The Orioles scored twice off Bello in the third inning, when four runners reached on three singles and a walk.

Bello was done after four innings, needing 87 pitches for the 12 outs. He allowed six hits — five singles and a double — and the two runs with one walk and seven strikeouts.

The start marked the shortest of the season for Bello and the latest in a downward trend. He has either not reached or completed the fifth inning in his last four starts after doing so in each of his first three starts.

“That’s one of the issues I’ve been having,” said Bello through an interpreter. “I’ve been working very hard to get to that sixth, seventh inning. When the bullpen has been there, it’s been great, so I just need to improve on that.”

The four real Sox relievers allowed just one run and four hits in their four innings before Toro took the mound.

Even a less-effective outing from both Bello and the relievers likely would not have mattered much, given the plush cushion provided by the offense, especially Devers.

“Everybody knows the type of hitter Raffy is, and everybody was surprised by what he’s doing, but that’s who he is,” said Bello. “Everyone was also surprised that he got off to a slow start for the first four, five, six games, but we know the type of hitter he is and the numbers that he can put up.”

Good defense from both clubs marked the early stages of the game.

In the second inning, Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela sped back into the triangle to track down Ramón Urías’s drive, reaching back for the catch as he dived to the ground.

In the bottom half of that inning, Orioles right fielder Heston Kjerstad denied a home run by Carlos Narvaez, snagging a line drive over the top of the Red Sox bullpen fence.

The 26-26 Red Sox are 4-3 on this 10-game homestand. And while the offense may not necessarily come close to repeating a 20-hit and 19-run performance in any of the remaining games here, it might have lit a fire under a team that has played in fits and starts for nearly two months.

“To be able to have a good offensive like that, that was awesome,” said Bregman. “And obviously not having to use [closer Aroldis Chapman] there in the ninth was awesome. Hopefully it can propel us to winning a lot of games.”

Michael Silverman can be reached at [email protected].