Kutter Crawford has been one of the best pitchers in baseball through the first month and a half, and Monday he’ll take the hill for perhaps his biggest start of the season so far.

Monday the Red Sox will face the Tampa Bay Rays for the first time this season, and entering the day Boston is third in the AL East and 1.5 games ahead of Tampa Bay in the standings. The Red Sox (21-19) have won two straight to take this weekend’s series against the Nationals, while the Rays (20-21) have lost three of their last four to fall back a game below .500.

Crawford enters Monday second in MLB for wins above replacement among pitchers (2.3) and fifth in earned run average (1.75). He’s thrown 46.1 innings through his first eight starts, and after struggling to pitch deep into games during the early stages of his career, he has now completed six innings in each of his last four.

The Rays will counter with Zach Eflin, who enters the week with a 3.75 ERA over a team-high 48 innings.

Red Sox lineup

Jarren Duran LF

Wilyer Abreu RF

Connor Wong C

Rafael Devers 3B

Tyler O’Neill DH

Dominic Smith 1B

Vaughn Grissom 2B

Romy Gonzalez SS

Ceddanne Rafaela CF

Kutter Crawford P

How to watch

When: 7:10 p.m.

Where: Fenway Park, Boston

Broadcast info: NESN, WEEI 93.7 FM, WCCM 1490 AM (Spanish)