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  Sunday, Aug. 13 8:05pm ET
For starters, Ohka hardly jubilant with victory
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Although Tomo Ohka wasn't overly pleased with his control, he was still good enough Sunday night to get his first victory as a major league starter.

Ohka (1-2), on his second recall from Triple-A Pawtucket this season, gave up two runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings as the Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 4-2.

Frank Catalanotto
Texas Rangers runner Frank Catalanotto (27) knocks the ball loose from Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek to score a run during the fourth inning Sunday. However, it was not enough as Boston prevailed, 4-2.

"I was no good, but I was happy to get the win," Ohka said in Japanese through a translator. "On the other hand, I was not very good."

Ohka indicated that he was disappointed with his four walks, including two straight with two outs in the sixth inning that loaded the bases for Texas and forced him out of the game. He threw 98 pitches, 52 for strikes.

"He pitched good for us. I don't really know if he ran out of gas," Boston manger Jimy Williams said. "I think it was just time to take him out. The bottom line is he had done his job and it was time to turn it over to somebody else."

The 5 2/3 innings was the longest stint for Ohka in 12 major league appearances the past two seasons for Boston. He gave up five hits and struck out five.

At Pawtucket on June 1, Ohka threw a perfect game on just 77 pitches, 59 strikes.

Derek Lowe pitched the ninth for his 26th save in 31 opportunities.

Nomar Garciaparra and Jason Varitek each hit two-run singles in the third inning when the Red Sox scored all of their runs.

Gabe Kapler extended the major leagues' longest hitting streak this season to 26 games with a sixth-inning single, but Texas had only six hits. The Rangers have been held to seven hits or less in four straight games.

The Rangers couldn't overcome Boston's four-run burst off Kenny Rogers (11-10).

Rogers struck out three of the four previous batters, including Brian Daubach to start the third, before Boston loaded the bases on an infield hit, a walk and a single.

Carl Everett lined out before Garciaparra singled with two strikes. Varitek's hit came after Troy O'Leary was hit by a pitch.

"It seems I'm always just one pitch away. The inning started like any other ... then they extended the inning and got hits when they needed them," said Rogers, 2-5 in his last eight starts. "I probably cost myself a couple of runs at the end. The pitch to Varitek, I just left it out over the plate."

Boston's third inning ended when shortstop Royce Clayton made a diving stab of Bernard Gilkey's hard grounder up the middle and used a backhand flip to second for the final out.

Rogers gave up seven hits -- only three coming outside the third inning. He struck out five and walked one.

After Ohka's consecutive two-out walks in the sixth, Rich Garces relieved and got Mike Lamb to foul out to end the inning.

Boston third baseman Ed Sprague ran down Lamb's popup, using a full arm extension to make the grab before falling into the Red Sox dugout and being caught by teammate Israel Alcantara.

The Rangers got two runs off Ohka after loading the bases with no outs in the fourth. Kapler hit a sacrifice fly to center and Ricky Ledee followed with an RBI single on a high bouncer over second baseman Mike Lansing.

Game notes
Rafael Palmeiro drew a walk in the fourth, his seventh base on balls in the three-game series vs. Boston. ... In his 26-game hitting streak, Kapler is hitting .371 (39-for-105) with six homers and 21 RBIs. He finished 1-for-3. ... O'Leary went 0-for-3 and has just three hits in 26 at-bats. ... Garciaparra is 15-for-29 (.517) lifetime against Rogers after getting two hits Sunday. ... Lamb snapped an 0-for-18 streak with a ninth-inning single for Texas.
 


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