It wasn’t just a swing that lifted the Red Sox and buried the Yankees. It was a swing that masked the third outing by a Red Sox starter of three innings or fewer in the last five games.

The staff owes Hanley Ramirez a big thank you.

Until Ramirez’s three-run homer lifted the Red Sox to 7-5 walkoff victory over the Yankees Thursday night, the focus was on another poor start by the Sox rotation, this one by Eduardo Rodriguez, who said he didn’t feel great from the get-go.

Rodriguez, who lasted 2⅓ innings and allowed eight hits and four runs, has given the Red Sox uneven performances of late. The fact he’s not been dependable has to be concerning. Drew Pomeranz lasted two innings, allowing four hits and five runs, Tuesday against Baltimore, and Clay Buchholz, who pitches Friday night against the Yankees, lasted three innings and allowed four hits and six runs last Sunday against the Blue Jays.

The Red Sox have two dependable starters, Rick Porcello and David Price, and the final three in the rotation have been on a downward path. The night, the outlook, everything changed so dramatically for the Sox on Thursday. The bullpen, led by a virtual unknown in lefthander Robby Scott, enabled the Red Sox to stay in this game. John Farrell commended the work of the bullpen in the three recent short outings by the starters.

Obviously, those short outings cannot continue.

The Red Sox were fortunate they finally had some late Fenway heroics on a night when the second-place Orioles lost to the Rays, 7-6, and the Blue Jays were playing the Angels on the West Coast. The Yankees were on the verge of pulling within three games of the Red Sox before Dellin Betances, whom manager Joe Girardi was trying so hard to avoid after pitching the last two nights, surrendered four runs in the ninth.

While this might have been the death blow for the Yankees, New York has been a resilient team after it pretty much gave up on the season when Alex Rodriguez retired, and Carlos Beltran, Ivan Nova, and relievers Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller were traded. The Yankees recently had to double back and obtain a designated hitter, so they picked up Billy Butler, who was let go by Oakland just last week.

Masahiro Tanaka continued to pitch like an ace (seven innings, four hits, one run). Gary Sanchez continued to hit like the second coming of Mike Piazza, and he was partly responsible for Rodriguez’s undoing when he crushed a 1-and-2 fastball for a ground-rule double in the first inning

The Yankees have had their act together, perhaps playing loosey-goosey while the Red Sox have appeared uptight all of a sudden. But that enthusiasm went splat in the ninth inning.

What this game did was unleash an uptight Red Sox squad and perhaps turn the Yankees inside out.

The Red Sox seemed to take Mookie Betts’s advice and play “like we’re having fun’’ rather than play as if they have to win every game.

But what has to happen now is the young guys who have lifted the Red Sox all season can’t fade away. It was once again veterans such as David Ortiz, with an eighth-inning homer that made it 5-2, who got the Red Sox rolling. It was Chris Young, who got hit by a pitch in the ninth, and Dustin Pedroia, who walked, and Ortiz, who singled in the third run, and Betts, who singled in the fourth run, before Ramirez did his thing.

As we’ve written before, the team that wins the American East will have earned it. The Yankees’ story would be the most improbable and therefore the most impressive, if they knock off the teams ahead of them the remainder of the way.

The Orioles, Red Sox, Yankees, and Blue Jays will be playing each other a lot between now and the end of the regular season. The Orioles and Yankees clash the final weekend of the season, while the Red Sox and Blue Jays end the season in Boston.

The Blue Jays have shown signs of fading. The Orioles fade for a couple of days and then return with a vengeance. There are little spurts and then little setbacks.

The Red Sox got out of their setback mode in a hurry, and who knows if this sparks a certain momentum the remainder of the season?

What we know is Buchholz has a chance to turn around the poor starting pitching of late. The Red Sox had seven starts of three innings or fewer in their first 141 games, and now have had three in their last five.

This has to turn around. Buchholz, who has been inserted in the rotation to take Steven Wright’s place, has to save the bullpen, continue the good times, and hope Boston can finally widen its lead in the division.

The Hanley homer might have been great drama, and the fans enjoyed it. But the reality is the starters have to go deeper and be better.

This is crunch time. And when all is said and done, the big hits are great, but you will win or lose with pitching.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo.