Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell had an immediate impact in their return to the lineup for the AL wild card-leading Boston Red Sox.
Beckett struck out seven over five scoreless innings in his first start in nearly three weeks and Lowell came off the disabled list to go 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs, helping Boston beat the Texas Rangers 8-1 on Friday night.
The Red Sox won their fourth straight game to move within 2 1/2 games of AL East-leading Tampa Bay, a 6-4 loser at Toronto. They remained 5 1/2 games ahead of Minnesota in the wild-card race.
Beckett (12-9), who hadn't pitched since Aug. 17 because of an inflamed right elbow, struck out four of the first eight batters he faced. The right-hander was on a limited pitch count, throwing 49 of his 80 pitches for strikes without walking a batter and allowing four singles.
Manny Delcarmen, Justin Masterson and Hideki Okajima finished for the Red Sox, who missed their majors-best 14th shutout when Nelson Cruz hit a two-out RBI single off Okajima in the ninth.
Lowell, who was on the DL with a strained right oblique muscle, put the Red Sox ahead 1-0 in the second inning when he homered in his first at-bat since Aug. 12. The third baseman added a two-run single in the fourth and an RBI double in the ninth.
Coco Crisp went 3-for-5 with three RBIs for Boston.
Kevin Millwood (9-8) allowed seven runs, six earned, and nine hits in six innings. The right-hander had won three straight decisions, his longest winning streak since 2002, giving up only four runs over 24 2-3 innings with two complete games in that stretch.
The Red Sox declared Beckett ready to return after he threw 58 pitches without any problems in a bullpen session Tuesday.
Beckett didn't allow a hit until Joaquin Arias led off the fourth with an infield single, the first of three Texas hits in the inning. But Michael Young grounded into a double play before consecutive singles and a strikeout.
Seven different Texas batters struck out against Beckett, who in his last start allowed a season-high eight runs in only 2 1-3 innings.
Crisp had a two-run single in the fourth, on a flare to short center that ricocheted off the glove of backpedaling second baseman Arias. The Red Sox had back-to-back triples in the sixth, Crisp driving in a run with his before scoring on Jacoby Ellsbury's triple into the right-field corner.
