Red Sox skipper Terry Francona was right.

Earlier in the day, he said his team would still have fight in them, even after the bout is long over.

Whether it’s Marco Scutaro belting a pair of home runs to left with a bum right shoulder, Josh Reddick collecting three hits in his career for the first time or Lars Anderson breaking through with his first two big league hits, the Red Sox showed that Tuesday night’s 14-5 embarrassment at the hands of the Rays was wiped from their memory banks.

That skill will come in very, very handy as they play the Yankees six times and the White Sox four times in the final three weeks. The Red Sox, if nothing else, showed Wednesday they will play hard to the end of the schedule.

The Red Sox were rewarded Wednesday night with an 11-5 win over the Rays, completing their homestand with a 2-4 mark as they have Thursday off before embarking on a six-game road trip through Oakland and Seattle.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE RED SOX:

– Marco Scutaro sure knows how to handle pain. Fresh from his first start at second base since 2008, Scutaro returned to shortstop on Wednesday and had his second career two-homer game. He also collected a double and a single in posting his seventh career four-hit game. His other came on Aug. 9, 2009 vs. Baltimore.

– The Rays had a pitching meltdown starting with Matt Garza. The Red Sox took advantage of the right-hander who had one of his worst nights of a good season. Coming in, he was 14-7 with a 3.46 ERA. But on this night, his fastball was flat and the Red Sox capitalized by going deep four times.

– Tim Wakefield hits his payday. By getting one out deep into the fourth inning, Wakefield guaranteed his contract for 2011 at $2 million, up from the base of $1.5 million when he agreed to a two-year extension last November. On top of that, Wakefield earned his first win since before Independence Day by lasting five innings, allowing six hits and five runs – four earned. It was his first win since July 2 and a 3-2 win over Baltimore at Fenway.

– Rookie first baseman Lars Anderson looked a lot more comfortable. Not only did he collect his first two big league hits but he drove in his first run in a three-run seventh and made a diving grab of a Brad Hawpe grounder down the right field line. He scooped and threw onto Scott Atchison covering.

– The long ball brigade was out in force. Not only did Scutaro go deep twice, David Ortiz, Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez all went yard as the Red Sox turned the tables on the Rays pitching staff from Tuesday night.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE RED SOX:

– J.D. Drew continues to slide. Drew went 1-for-4 and struck out and now has a season batting average of .254. He finished the homestand 3-for-17 and has homered once this month, on Sept. 1 against Baltimore’s Jake Arieta.

– Rays manager Joe Maddon was managing the late innings as if the game were a one-run playoff contest. This wasn’t really that bad for the Red Sox but terrible for the loyal fans who chose to stay behind and get their nine innings-worth of baseball. Despite the Red Sox scoring three in the fifth, one in the sixth and three more in the seventh to make it an 11-5 contest, Maddon saw fit to use six pitchers in the game, with four of the changes coming in the middle of an inning.