Arlington, TX -- (Sports Network) - Mike Lowell finished 3-for-5 with four runs batted in, and Josh Beckett threw five shutout innings, as the Boston Red Sox beat Texas, 8-1, in the first of three games with the Rangers.

Beckett (12-9) and Lowell were each activated from the 15-day disabled list Friday. Beckett picked up the win after giving up just four hits and striking out seven in his first start since August 17. He was on the DL with right elbow inflammation.

Lowell, meanwhile, was on the DL with a strained oblique but returned to homer and double as part of his productive night, helping Boston draw within 2 1/2 games of Tampa Bay for first in the AL East. The Red Sox gained a game after the Rays lost to Toronto earlier Friday.

Coco Crisp had three hits, including a triple, and three RBI for Boston, which has won four straight.

Nelson Cruz finished with one hit and an RBI for the Rangers, who had won two in a row. Kevin Millwood (9-8) was rocked for seven runs -- six earned -- on nine hits in six frames to take the loss.

Texas outfielder Marlon Byrd left in the first inning with a sprained thumb, an injury he sustained while trying to make a diving catch.

Lowell's solo homer with one away in the second inning put the visitors ahead, but the Red Sox pulled away with a four-run fourth.

Mark Kotsay reached base on an error with one down, and Jason Bay followed with a double. Lowell slapped a single to left that plated both runners before Jed Lowrie walked and Jason Varitek singled to load the bases for Crisp, whose two-run single made it a 5-0 game.

Eventually, Millwood got out of the inning, but Boston struck again in the sixth. Varitek got a base hit with two outs, and back-to-back triples from Crisp and Jacoby Ellsbury brought in two more runs for Boston.

Lowell's RBI double off Bill White in the top of the ninth gave the Red Sox an eight-run lead. Cruz's RBI single off Hideki Okajima, plating German Duran, provided the final tally.

Game Notes:

Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler will undergo season-ending surgery next week in Dallas to repair a sports hernia. Kinsler, out since August 18 with the injury, decided to forego an attempt to come back this season without surgery. Kinsler should be able to run full speed in six-to-eight weeks, and the procedure shouldn't impact his offseason workout schedule...Texas pitcher Doug Mathis will also have surgery on his right shoulder to remove an inflamed bursa sac. He has been out the last three months, but is expected to be ready for spring training...Along with Beckett and Lowell, infielder Sean Casey was activated from the DL on Friday. To make room on the roster, the Sox assigned pitcher Eric Hull outright to Triple-A Pawtucket.