ARLINGTON -- For seven innings Sunday afternoon, the Rays’ plan for a bullpen game panned out even as their at-bats against the Rangers did not. But their patience -- and a few fortuitous bounces -- paid off in the final two innings.

In the eighth, the Rays tied the game without hitting a ball out of the infield, then rookie shortstop Taylor Walls came through with a go-ahead two-run double to center field, and Tampa Bay kept on hitting in a 7-1 win over Texas at Globe Life Field.

• Box score

It was the Rays’ 19th win in their past 23 games and their eighth come-from-behind victory during that stretch. This one was unusual from start to finish, from their pitching strategy to the game-tying rally to the late offensive explosion that was capped by muscle-bound first baseman Yandy Díaz’s first home run since last Aug. 21.

But in many ways, it was a perfect Rays-type win: Their pitching and defense were excellent, their lineup was opportunistic, even after a sluggish start, and they utilized their exceptionally deep roster to great effect.

“It's the game that we talk about and the guys talk about in Spring Training, and certainly early on in the season, that the best version of us is using our entire roster,” manager Kevin Cash said. “And you're not going to have a bullpen day every day, but when it's drawn up, it couldn't have been any better. I mean, they were just lights-out.”

The Rays ran out six pitchers on a scheduled bullpen day, with only starter Michael Wacha allowing a run -- and even that was on a double-play grounder in the first inning. That was the extent of the damage done against Tampa Bay’s staff, as Wacha pitched 2 2/3 innings before Ryan Sherriff, Andrew Kittredge, Jeffrey Springs, J.P. Feyereisen and Pete Fairbanks combined to record the final 19 outs.

Feyereisen got a big assist from center fielder Kevin Kiermaier in the seventh. With a runner on third, Kiermaier sprinted in and slid across the outfield grass to snag an Isiah Kiner-Falefa fly ball. Cash called the play “massive at that time,” although the Rays’ subsequent rallies made the game look less tense than it was when Kiermaier kept the deficit at 1-0.

The Rays loaded the bases against Rangers left-hander John King on a bizarre sequence. Brandon Lowe hit a routine grounder to the left side, but he hustled hard enough that Kiner-Falefa rushed a throw that pulled Nate Lowe off the bag. Then, Randy Arozarena bounced a ball just in front of the plate, but the Rangers let it slide all the way to third base for an infield single.

Up came pinch-hitter Mike Brosseau, who fouled off a pair of full-count pitches to take an eight-pitch walk that loaded the bases. Austin Meadows popped up a 2-0 pitch for the first out, then Texas brought in righty Josh Sborz. At that point, Díaz -- delivering the sort of patient plate appearance he’s known for -- worked his way back from a 1-2 count to take a game-tying walk.

“He's so consistent and works pitchers as good as anybody on our club,” Cash said of Díaz, who has more walks (39) than strikeouts (31) this season. “It's just a really tough at-bat that he puts on pitchers.”

That brought up Walls, who drew praise earlier in the day from Cash and hitting coach Chad Mottola for not seeming to let the game speed up on him in his first few weeks of big league action. Walls said he had let some moments feel bigger than they were in the Rays’ last series against the Yankees, but he slowed himself down and focused on being more aggressive on pitches in the strike zone to shake that feeling.

Walls showed it against Sborz, pounding a two-strike fastball to center to put the Rays ahead, 3-1.

“I've got to be very confident when I get there. If I'm up at the plate worried about trying not to get to two strikes, I might expand my zone early in counts, have weak contact early in counts,” said Walls, who had his first three-hit game in the Majors. “So I'm really going up there with a focused plan on what I'm trying to attack or what I'm looking for. If it's there, it's there. If it's not, I'll take my chances."

The Rays piled on four more runs in the ninth, capitalizing on another error by Kiner-Falefa. Austin Meadows, who extended his hitting streak to 10 games, punched a two-run single to left. Then, Díaz, who had gone 62 games and 210 at-bats without a home run, pulled a Brett Martin curveball into the Rays' bullpen.

The entire team had been waiting for that moment, too. Walls, who was on deck, said he heard “the noise ramp up” when the ball cleared the fence. Cash said the whole dugout was pumped, albeit probably not as thrilled as Díaz is now that he won’t have to hear about his homer drought. The first baseman could hardly hide his excitement when he sat down for a postgame Zoom interview.

“I'm happy. I feel free now,” Díaz said through an interpreter. “Everybody's been waiting for it. Thank God I finally got the first one. Hopefully, I can get many more after this.”