BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox waited for Josh Beckett to recover from his sprained right ankle before letting him get back on the mound.

And he returned to the rotation just in time.

In his first start in 11 days, Beckett pitched six solid innings to lead the Red Sox to a 4-3 victory over Tampa Bay on Friday night, slowing the charge of the third-place Rays and extending Boston’s lead in the AL wild-card race to four games. It was the second win in nine games for the Red Sox.

The Rays trailed Boston by nine games on Sept. 3 and had a chance to catch them with a four-game sweep in Fenway. But trade-deadline pickup Mike Aviles broke a fourth-inning tie with his first homer since joining the Red Sox.