Mike Aviles homered for the first time since May 1 and Josh Beckett worked six solid innings as the Boston Red Sox strengthened their lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League wild card race with a 4-3 home triumph on Friday.

David Ortiz drove in a pair and Dustin Pedroia added an RBI single and scored twice for Boston, which snapped a six-game losing skid to the Rays and increased its lead in the wild card to four games. The Red Sox also trimmed their deficit to 3 1/2 games behind the AL East-leading New York Yankees, who dropped a 5-4 decision to the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.

With the score knotted at 3, Aviles deposited an offering from James Shields (15-11) over the Green Monster for his sixth homer of the season - and first as a member of the Red Sox.

Beckett (13-5) collected his fourth straight win and didn't look the worse for wear in his first start since spraining his right ankle on Sept. 5. He allowed three runs and seven hits while striking out seven.

Alfredo Aceves and Daniel Bard combined to strike out five batters to bridge the gap to Jonathan Papelbon, who collected his 500th career strikeout en route to his 30th save of the season. Papelbon became the first player in major-league history with 30-plus saves in his first six seasons.

Evan Longoria belted a two-run homer and added an RBI single and rookie Desmond Jennings finished with three hits for Tampa Bay.