C.J. Wilson earns first win as a starter for Texas

BOSTON (AP) — C.J. Wilson pitched four-hit ball into the seventh inning for his first career win as a starter, helping the Texas Rangers snap a six-game losing streak Thursday night with a 3-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Nelson Cruz had two hits and stole two bases — the Rangers' 13th and 14th in as many tries in the series — and David Murphy also had two hits.

Wilson (1-1) walked two and struck out two before leaving with two on and two outs in the seventh. Darren O'Day got out of the inning and Darren Oliver got five outs for his third career save — his first since 1994.

Clay Buchholz (1-2) struck out a career-high 10 batters, matching zeros with Wilson through six innings. But the Rangers scored three times on three hits and two Boston errors in the seventh to avoid a three-game sweep.

Buchholz allowed six hits and a walk in 6 2-3 innings.

Wilson had been 0-6 with an 8.31 ERA as a starter. He went 0-5 in 2005 and then went four years without making a start before pitching seven shutout innings in a no-decision in his first appearance this season. After a bout of food poisoning, he gave up three earned runs to the New York Yankees in a 5-1 loss on Friday.

The former closer had allowed just two hits through six innings, but the Rangers had just three before Josh Hamilton led off the seventh with a double and scored on Cruz's single up the middle. Cruz then stole second and scored on Murphy's double into the left-center gap to make it 2-0.

Buchholz got Chris Davis to ground out to first and struck out Taylor Teagarden. He could have gotten out of it on Andres Blanco's drag bunt up the first-base line, but Buchholz made a wild throw to first to allow Blanco to get to second, and then right fielder J.D. Drew made a bad throw to third to allow the runner to take third.

The sold-out Fenway Park crowd turned on its team, booing as Buchholz was taken out of the game. Ramon Ramirez relieved him and got Julio Borbon on a liner to first to end the inning.

Cruz, who entered the game tied for the major league lead with seven homers, was intentionally walked in the eighth and stole another base, his fifth of the season.

Recent Red Sox call-up Darnell McDonald, who homered in each of the first two games of the series, came up with two on and two outs in the seventh and grounded out to third base.

NOTES: The Rangers haven't been thrown out by a Red Sox catcher in 32 tries since the start of last season. ... The Red Sox said before the game that OF Jacoby Ellsbury, who had been eligible to come off the DL on Tuesday, has hairline fractures in four ribs from a collision with third baseman Adrian Beltre on April 11. ... O'Day was hit on the left forearm by Bill Hall's liner in the eighth, but remained in the game.