BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox took advantage of a subpar night by reigning MVP Justin Verlander Tuesday night, beating the Detroit Tigers 4-1 in a rain-shortened six-inning game for their fourth straight victory.

Verlander had his streak of pitching at least six innings halted at 63 straight. It was the longest such streak since Steve Carlton went 69 consecutive starts from Sept. 1979 to April 1982. It was also the longest by a Tigers pitcher since at least 1918.

The game was played in a light steady rain from nearly the start and finally was delayed when the Tigers loaded the bases in the sixth. The game was called after a delay of 1 hour, 45 minutes.

Boston took the lead with a four-run fourth, using a pair of walks and an infield hit to spark its rally.

Clayton Mortensen (1-0) got the win for Boston, going 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

Verlander (11-7) gave up four runs, three earned in five innings, walking four and fanning six.

The Tigers have lost five of six games.

Boston starter Josh Beckett left the game in the third inning with what the team announced as a “back spasm.”

Trailing 1-0, the Red Sox scored four runs off Verlander in the fourth inning. They loaded the bases on singles by Cody Ross and Jarrod Saltalamacchia before Kelly Shoppach walked. Pedro Ciriaco tied it with a single to right. Jacoby Ellsbury then drew a bases-loaded walk before Carl Crawford hit a slow roller past Verlander that second baseman Omar Infante couldn’t bare hand. The ball rolled behind him to short right, allowing Ciriaco to also score from second to make it 4-1. Crawford got one RBI on the play, and Infante was charged with an error for the second run scoring.

A subject of trade rumors the past few days and of the fans’ ire most of the season, Beckett could be sidelined for a while after he was lifted with the injury in the third inning.

Until the injury, it had been his best start in a while.

He entered the game with a 10.06 ERA in first innings this year, but retired the first eight batters he faced before Infante beat out a slow grounder to short. Beckett hit the next batter, Austin Jackson, then walked the following two, forcing in a run. On ball four to Miguel Cabrera, he waved to the dugout a couple of times with his glove. A trainer and manager Bobby Valentine came out, and he walked off the mound to a few boos.

Mortensen relieved, and Prince Fielder hit a long foul ball on the first pitch before flying out to end the inning.

Boston had loaded the bases against Verlander in the first, but Saltalamacchia struck out swinging on a 96 mph fastball to end the inning.