At 36 and in his 14th major league season, Sonny Gray is having one of the best years of his career in his first season with the Red Sox.
His impact as a presence in the clubhouse has been just as valuable, said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy.
“He’s enormous,” Tracy said. “Because of who he is, the amount of time he’s got in the big leagues, the amount of knowledge he has, the way he prepares.”
Gray helped the Red Sox extend their winning streak to seven games, throwing six scoreless innings Wednesday night in a 4-0 win over the White Sox at Fenway Park.
He struck out eight while allowing just three hits and two walks, earning his American League-leading 14th win of the season.
“He was awesome,” Tracy said. “Very locked in and determined from the time he got here. He executed his pitches, pretty much had spin whenever he wanted to, got a lot of spin below the zone for swing and miss. Just [a] really, really, good outing.”
The Red Sox (62-51) climbed to a season-high 11 games above .500 after winning 30 of their last 35, marking the best 35-game stretch in franchise history, to clinch their ninth consecutive series victory.
“Just expecting to win,” Gray said. “Showing up to the park and expecting to win no matter what it looks like. For me, we scored one in the first and it was like, ‘OK, back to just pitching to win the game no matter what else happens.’ Pitch to win the game.”
A subtle gesture by Gray early in the game helped the Sox stay focused.
Willson Contreras was involved in an odd exchange with White Sox leadoff hitter Sam Antonacci in the first inning.
Antonacci bounced Gray’s first pitch to Contreras, and the play turned into a footrace to first base. Contreras beat Antonacci to the bag by a step, but as Antonacci crossed it, he gave Contreras a slight but noticeable chicken wing.
Contreras appeared to take exception and had words for Antonacci as he sprinted off the field.
To prevent the confrontation from becoming overheated, Gray gave Contreras a pat on the shoulder. That was enough to get everyone back to business.
By the time the Red Sox returned to the dugout after a scoreless top of the first issue, the run-in did not become an issue.
“I put my head down to take a note or something,” Tracy said. “But there was not much conversation on that in the dugout.”
Contreras returned the favor in the bottom of the inning with a two-out RBI single that scored Wilyer Abreu to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.
After allowing four runs in his previous outing, a 5-4 win over the Athletics July 30, and a season-high five runs in a 12-2 loss to the Blue Jays July 25, Gray was intent on putting together a strong performance.
“Focus, attention to detail, creating an edge, finding an edge, spinning the ball,” Gray said. “That’s who I am. I think there’s a lot of little things that add up. I don’t think it’s one thing, I think it’s a lot of little things.”
Gray breezed through a 1-2-3 second inning.
When Antonacci stepped back into the box in the third inning, Gray appeared to have a receipt ready. With the count at 0-2, Gray hit Antonacci in the right thigh with a 92.8-mile-per-hour fastball.
With two outs, the free baserunner did not initially appear costly. But Gray walked Munetaka Murakami, moving Antonacci into scoring position. Miguel Vargas then shot a sharp ground ball down the third-base line that nearly made the Red Sox pay.
Caleb Durbin made a diving stop, but his throw across the diamond bounced to first and never threatened to beat Vargas. Contreras came off the bag to grab it, quickly pivoted toward the plate, and found Antonacci trying to score from second.
Contreras fired home, and catcher Connor Wong tagged out Antonacci before he could get a whiff of the plate.
The White Sox mustered only four hits all night, and that was the closest they came to mounting a scoring threat.
Abreu stretched the lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the third with a solo homer 390 feet to right-center field off White Sox starter Sean Burke, a Sutton native who allowed two runs on five hits over 4 innings. It was Abreu’s fourth homer in three games and his ninth since the All-Star break, giving him 20 for the season.
Contreras, who was in concussion protocol over the weekend, was removed in the fifth inning because of an illness. Tracy said the issue was unrelated to the concussion.
“He’s good,” Tracy said. “He’s a little under the weather. Just feeling a little sick. Took his temperatures. As the game was going along, the temperature started to go up and he started to get a little dizzy. Thought it was best to get him out of there.”
The Red Sox added some insurance in the seventh inning, 3-0, on a sacrifice fly by Andruw Monasterio that scored Jarren Duran, who went 2 for 3. Durbin completed the scoring with an RBI single in the eighth that brought home Abreu.
But on a night when Gray muted the White Sox lineup, Red Sox hitters gave him all the support he needed.
Gray posted his 14th quality start and his 15th outing of at least six innings. The Red Sox are 15-6 in his 21 starts this season.
“I just felt like I was a little closer to just being myself,” Gray said. “That’s a good feeling.”
Julian Benbow can be reached at julian.benbow@globe.com.