It bounced in the stands after three Red Sox home runs and it bounced in and around the outfield -- the shallow and the deep parts.

When the ball finally stopped moving, the Rangers came up on the short end of a 9-2 victory by Boston in front of 44,114 at Ameriquest Field in Arlington.

With the loss, the Rangers finished the month of April with a losing record, 12-13. Last season, the club finished April with a record of 13-9.

"We haven't hit our stride, gained momentum," Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira said. "I think last year, [the month] basically carried us throughout the whole year."

The Rangers offense was not blameless in the defeat, but Boston starter Bronson Arroyo made sure the momentum stayed in the visiting dugout. The right-hander allowed two runs on five hits in seven strong innings for his third victory of the season. He struck out five batters.

"He had his fastball and his curveball," Rangers designated hitter David Dellucci said. "I looked up at one point in the game and he had 63 strikes and 33 balls. He was on and he got ahead of every batter."

Rangers starter Pedro Astacio was effective, just not as effective as Arroyo or as effective as he has been. Astacio was charged with five runs on seven hits and five walks. He was bounced after 5 1/3 innings, his second shortest outing of the season. The Red Sox also out-hit the Rangers 14-6.

"[Astacio] was competitive," Rangers manager Buck Showalter said. "If we put a couple of tallies up there in the first couple of innings, he might have walked out of here with a 'W'. He was real close to a good outing."

The Red Sox led, 2-1, after four innings, but the score changed in fifth and it changed rapidly on five pitches.

Johnny Damon led off the fifth with a solo home run to right field on a 0-1 delivery from Astacio for a 3-1 Red Sox lead. Three pitches later, Trot Nixon connected a 1-1 pitch from Astacio and deposited it in the seats in right field for a three-run Red Sox lead.

Then the heart of the Red Sox batting order -- Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz -- followed. Then the heart of the Red Sox order walked.

The next batter, Kevin Millar, drove a pitch to the wall in left field and Ramirez advanced to third base from second on the flyout. Ortiz, who hesitated on the play, stayed at first while Rangers left fielder Kevin Mench threw the ball to second base to cut him off.

The play proved crucial when Jason Varitek followed by hitting into a 6-4-3 double play to end the frame, Astacio's most challenging of the game.

The play proved meaningless because the Rangers did not score enough.

Astacio's challenges continued in the sixth inning and so did the Red Sox scoring. With one out, Bill Mueller hit a single and later scored from first on a double by Kevin Youkilis. Mueller appeared on his way to slowing down at third base on the play, but Mench stumbled on the throw to the infield, allowing Mueller to trot home for a 5-1 lead.

Astacio would not face another hitter and yielded to left-hander Matt Riley.

"I think he was a little bit off of his command," Showalter said. "But [Astacio] was real close."

In the first inning, Ramirez drove home Nixon with a double to left field to put the Red Sox up, 1-0. The visitors increased the lead to 2-0 on a double to right field by Damon with Mueller and Youkilis on base. Mueller scored on the play and Youkilis could have as well if Rangers right fielder Gary Matthews Jr. did not cut the ball off before it bounced into the corner.

Again, a nice play that amounted to little.

Michael Young hit a double and scored the Rangers' first run on a single by Hank Blalock in the fourth. Young would score again, this time on a sacrifice fly by Alfonso Soriano in the sixth, cutting the Red Sox lead to 5-2.

Boston added three runs in the eighth, two on a bloop single to shallow left field by Damon, to give Boston a comfortable 8-2 lead. Nixon's bloop single loaded the bases with no outs.

Doug Brocail retired the side in order, but Texas could not bounce back. Varitek made the task even harder by hitting a solo home run in the ninth for Boston's final run.

"We are a very confident group," Young said. "We are never going to hit a point where we start wondering or questioning what we can do offensively. We know we are a good team and we will get better."