Red Sox clinch playoff spot as Porcello wins 22nd game

Boston’s Pedroia hits grand slam against Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Dustin Pedroia hit his fourth career grand slam to help Rick Porcello get his major league-leading 22nd win, and the Boston Red Sox clinched a playoff berth by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 6-4 Saturday night for their 10th consecutive win.

Boston maintained a 5½-game lead over Toronto for the division title and ensured no worse than the AL’s second wild card. While the Red Sox technically have a magic number of one, the Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles play each other three times in the season’s final week — meaning only one of them can match Boston’s 91 wins.

Among the other wild-card contenders, only Detroit can reach 91 victories.

Pedroia stopped an 0-for-17 skid with a single in the sixth and gave Boston a 6-3 lead with a seventh-inning drive off Danny Farquhar.

Porcello (22-4) gave up three runs, eight hits and struck out nine over 6 1/3 innings. He just missed getting his 12th consecutive start of seven or more innings and three runs or fewer, which would have moved him past Cy Young (1904) and Pedro Martinez (2000) for the longest stretch during the same season in franchise history.

Craig Kimbrel, the fifth Boston reliever, reached 30 saves for the sixth straight season despite allowing Logan Forsythe’s solo homer in the ninth.

Brad Miller hit a two-run double in a three-run second that put Tampa Bay up 3-1 and gave him 80 RBIs.

Tampa Bay threatened in the second but failed to score due to two nice defensive plays. Pedroia made a throw from just in front of the outfield grass at second base on Mikie Mahtook’s grounder to get Corey Dickerson at the plate. Third baseman Brock Holt made a solid play along the line on Alexei Ramirez’s grounder and threw him out at first to end the inning.

Red Sox manager John Farrell didn’t rule out third baseman Pablo Sandoval (left shoulder) from coming back this year if an injury replacement is required in the postseason.

Knuckleballer Steven Wright (right shoulder) threw at 120 feet on level ground for the second straight day but is not ready to throw off a mound.

Rays designated hitter Nick Franklin (left hamstring) was in the lineup for the first time since Sept. 15. He did pinch hit twice in-between.

Farrell said pitcher David Price will start Tuesday and Sunday, which lines him up for Game 2 of the AL Division Series.

The Rays will honor Red Sox slugger David Ortiz in a pregame ceremony Sunday before his final game at Tropicana Field. He will be just the fourth visiting player to be honored, joining Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Cal Ripken Jr.

“Whenever somebody takes their time to honor my career I always appreciate it,” Ortiz said. “Everybody has shown a lot of respect and love.”

Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (3-7) will go against Rays righty Jake Odorizzi (9-6) in Sunday’s series finale.