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ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- Trot Nixon's grand slam snapped an eighth-inning tie and carried the Boston Red Sox to their fourth win in five games, a 7-4 triumph over the Texas Rangers. Boston squandered a three-run lead, but Troy O'Leary led off the eighth with a single off Chris Michalak (6-8), who pitched 1 2/3 innings in his Rangers' debut. Rookie Shea Hillenbrand greeted hard-throwing righthander Danny Kolb with a single that sent O'Leary to third, but Mike Lansing struck out. Former Ranger Doug Mirabelli walked to load the bases and Nixon worked the count full before golfing a pitch over the right-center field fence for his third career grand slam. "Kolb gave me lots of fastballs and worked the count to 3-2. From there, I was sitting on a fastball and I got underneath the ball to hit to the gap and it carried very well," Nixon said. "If i hit that same ball 10 times, I probably only hit it out once." "In the eighth inning, I made a mistake," Rangers manager Jerry Narron said. "I've got to get guys in situations where they can be successful. If I don't do that, I make a mistake. If Kolb is going to be the eighth-inning guy, I've got to let him start that inning. If Juan Moreno's job is to get lefthanders out, I've got to get him in to face Nixon." Nixon also singled and scored in the third and is hitting .400 (8-for-20) with three homers and eight RBI against Texas this season. His career-best 20th homer made a winner of Rod Beck (6-4), who gave up one run and two hits in one inning. "Nixon saw 27 pitches tonight over five at-bats. The more pitches he sees, the better hitter he is," Red Sox manager Joe Kerrigan said. "The home run pitch was low, but he kept his head down. He stayed with the ball." Allen McDill gave up a run while striking out two in his Boston debut and Derek Lowe got the last out in the eighth before Ugueth Urbina fanned two in a perfect ninth for his fourth save in as many chances. The Red Sox improved to 4-1 on a 10-game road trip and climbed within three games of the first-place New York Yankees in the American League East. "We've got a long way to go on the road trip," Kerrigan said. "We're not at a point we can take anything for granted. We have to go out and play just as hard tomorrow night." Things looked good early for Boston, which grabbed the lead in the third against rookie Aaron Myette on a two-run homer by Jose Offerman. Myette gave up back-to-back one-out doubles to Hillenbrand and Lansing in the sixth as the Red Sox went ahead, 3-0. Boston starter Hideo Nomo was cruising. He gave up just one hit through five innings but issued a leadoff walk to Mike Young in the sixth. Red-hot Frank Catalanotto singled and Michael Lamb lifted a sacrifice fly that got Texas on the board. Ivan Rodriguez led off the Rangers' seventh and capped an 11-pitch at-bat with a double to the gap in left-center. Nomo left after walking Ruben Sierra and Beck promptly gave up an RBI double to Ricky Ledee. Sierra was nailed at the plate, but Gabe Kapler tied it with a run-scoring single. Nomo was charged with two runs and three hits in six-plus innings, walking four and striking out five. "Nomo's start was huge," Kerrigan said. "He came out with a different game plan and stuck with it. He was a little more aggressive tonight." Texas has lost two in a row after winning four of five.
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