The game, which aired on TBS Sunday night, drew almost 13.4 million average viewers, easily surpassing game four of last year’s Indians v. Yankees division series, which claimed second place overall with 9.2 million average viewers.

TV viewership of the ALCS games surged after the Red Sox overcame a seven-run deficit in game five to beat the Rays and stay in the series. 

Last Thursday, game five drew 7.2 million average viewers.  Game six of the series pulled in 8.9 million viewers, securing third place in Nielsen’s ranking of the all-time top MLB playoff game broadcasts on cable TV.

View Nielsen’s full ranking of MLB playoffs ratings, dating back to 1996.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in Mediaweek.

The game, in which the Red Sox trailed the Rays by seven runs as late as the seventh inning, was a rollercoaster ride for both teams’ fans — as reflected in the preliminary metered market TV ratings, released by Nielsen on Friday.

At the close of the game’s first hour, one-quarter of all Boston households were watching, but that audience eroded steadily in the game’s second hour, as the Rays widened their lead over the Red Sox.

With the Red Sox down 0-7 in the top of the seventh inning, just 15.1% of local Boston households — a game low — remained.  But just 30 minutes later, when Boston scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, that percentage jumped to 22.1%, as Boston households returned to their TVs to watch the game heat up.

Household viewing in the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg, Florida market hovered between 20% and 25% for much of the game.

Overall viewing among Nielsen’s top 56 metered markets also remained steady — at 5% to 6% of all households — throughout the game.