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SEA@TEX: Holland strikes out eight over 7 1/3 innings

The red-hot Rangers look to push their winning streak to six games when Derek Holland takes the ball on Wednesday, one night after an 18-3 rout over the Red Sox in the series opener.

Holland, who picked up his first victory of the year in a two-run, 7 1/3-inning effort over the Mariners on Thursday, will make this third career start at Fenway. It is a place where he says he is very comfortable on the mound despite the park's historically unforgiving history to left-handers.

"I love this place," said Holland, who is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA and 13 strikeouts in the young season. "This is the one place I always dreamed of coming. I love the history here, I love the history of the ballpark. When I walk through the tunnel, it's like those guys are walking in with me, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams and those guys. It's cool."

Holland hasn't let his admiration for Fenway negatively affect his performance. The southpaw tossed seven shutout innings with six strikeouts and zero walks in his lone outing in Boston last season.

"That was last year," said Holland. "I never look back on that. I may have had a good performance, but I can't think about that. You can't let that affect you as a pitcher."

Holland is 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA and 11-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio lifetime at Fenway, and 2-1 with a 2.95 ERA in three career starts against Boston.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox are again searching to regain their rhythm after back-to-back difficult losses in virtually opposite fashion. To avoid a third straight loss, Boston will lean on Josh Beckett to provide a repeat performance of his impressive outing in the club's home opener vs. the Rays on Friday, when he allowed one run over eight innings on five hits.

Another deep outing figures to be doubly important for Beckett after Jon Lester lasted just two-plus innings Tuesday. Part of Beckett's formula will be to miss bats in the Rangers' potent lineup.

Beckett's inability to finish hitters in his previous start -- he recorded just one strikeout -- raised some concerns about his velocity. So far, Beckett is not concerned about his arm strength and instead is relying on all of his pitches until he regains his velocity.

"I don't think feel like I'm throwing 85 mph," said Beckett. "I definitely don't throw 95 as consistently as I used to. I'd like to think that my arm strength is going to get back there this year, and I'll probably be touching that again. You've got to locate a little bit better. Somebody said earlier getting ahead a little bit more [is] important, because you're not going to be able to throw balls by guys down the middle."

Rangers: Hamilton's hot start
The Rangers are off to an American League-best 9-2, and a large part of that is attributed to Josh Hamilton's hot start. The outfielder is a co-leader in the Junior Circuit with five home runs to go with a .413 (19-for-46) batting average, 11 RBIs and 11 runs scored. He has hit safely in 11 of 12 games played this season, with multihit affairs in six of his starts.

• Mitch Moreland is expected to be back in the lineup for the first time since Friday. He missed two games on Saturday and Sunday because of an abscessed tooth. He did not start on Tuesday because Lester was on the mound for the Red Sox.

• Mike Napoli, who went 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs on Tuesday, will be behind the plate on Wednesday, while David Murphy returns to left field. Murphy is 3-for-6 in his career against Beckett.

Red Sox: Top spot agrees with Aviles
Mike Aviles took over the leadoff spot in the Red Sox's order after Jacoby Ellsbury went down with a subluxed (partially dislocated) right shoulder, and is so far filling in admirably. In four games atop the lineup, Aviles is hitting .285 (6-for-21) with two home runs, two RBIs and four runs scored.

Aviles' performance comes as the Red Sox learned on Tuesday that Ellsbury will not need surgery to repair his shoulder. A visit to Dr. Lewis Yocum, the Angels' team doctor, confirmed the original diagnosis.

"Take it slowly to get it better," manager Bobby Valentine said Tuesday of Ellsbury's timetable. "I don't know that there's anything on the horizon, other than just normal treatment and see how he feels day to day."

Worth noting
• Hamilton is 6-for-14 with two home runs and two walks against Beckett. Hamilton's .429 batting average against Beckett is the second-highest among active players with at least 15 plate appearances vs. the right-hander.

• Joe Nathan has not allowed a run at Fenway Park during his career, tossing 7 1/3 innings over seven games. He is 4-for-4 in save opportunities.

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