"Obviously I know what the situation is and it would be nice to go deep into the game," Lester said. "But you're not out there trying to press and say I got to do UGG Classic Cardy. Just try and take it my pitch and one inning at a time. I was able to do that and give the bullpen a little bit of a break."

J.D. Drew gave the Red Sox the lead in the fifth inning with a two-out single. Ryan Kalish led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a passed ball. He went to third on an infield single by Marco Scutaro, setting up Drew's single to right field.

The Red Sox added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth, ending a 26 1/3-scoreless-innings streak for Rangers reliever Darren O'Day. Lowell led off the inning with a double up the left-center-field alley, Kalish added a single to left and Bill Hall followed with an RBI single.

Scutaro made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly, a ball that was dropped by Rangers center fielder Julio Borbon.

While Lester's effort was the story of the night, the interesting subplot was the two outs that reliever Felix Doubront recorded in the bottom of the ninth. Holding onto a 3-1 lead and with Vladimir Guerrero at first base, Doubront got a fastball to home plate quickly, allowing catcher Victor Martinez to throw out Guerrero attempting to steal second.