ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- The Texas Rangers reversed two trends Monday night. They won a one-run game, and did so while scoring less than six runs.

Rafael Palmeiro homered twice and Luis Alicea hit a two-run, tiebreaking single as the Rangers beat the Red Sox 5-4 Monday night in Boston's first game in five days.

	Rafael Palmeiro's 369 homers tie him with Ralph Kiner for 47th on the career list.

Texas had lost its first four one-run games of the season and had dropped its first eight when the offense failed to score at least six runs. The slumping Rangers had dropped six of their previous seven games overall.

"There's no way to explain the last eight days," Rangers manager Johnny Oates said. "Coming out of spring training, I thought we'd have our share of low-scoring games like this one. But we'll win our share of one-run games before it's over."

Palmeiro hit a two-run shot in the third inning and added a solo drive in the seventh for the 23rd two-homer game of his career. Palmeiro's 369 homers tie him with Ralph Kiner for 47th on the career list, two behind Gil Hodges.

"I wasn't looking for them," Palmeiro said. "They just gave me some pitches I was able to drive."

Said Oates: "I've seen that many times before. When he gets to swing the bat, he can do a lot of damage."

With two outs in the sixth and the game tied at 2, Mike Lamb singled off reliever Tim Wakefield (1-1) and Royce Clayton walked. Alicea lined a single in front of center fielder Carl Everett, scoring both runners, who were running on the pitch.

Palmeiro's eighth homer and sixth in his last four games against Boston made it 5-2 in the seventh.

Boston rallied in the eighth on Brian Daubach's two-run double off reliever Tim Crabtree to narrow Texas' lead to 5-4.

The Red Sox played for the first time after getting rained out for four straight days, including an entire weekend series at home against Cleveland, but manager Jimy Williams refused to pin the loss on the layoff.

"We have no excuses," Williams said. "We played good tonight, we just got beat 5-4. It's a nine-inning game."

Rangers starter Kenny Rogers (2-3) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings. He struck out two and walked two.

John Wetteland pitched the ninth for his second save in four opportunities.

Wetteland hadn't appeared in a game in a week since blowing back-to-back save opportunities, and he was eager to get back to work.

"It's been tough and I've added to that frustration over the last couple of weeks," Wetteland said. "It's tough on your head -- one run, one pitch, one hit away from a victory. So this was nice. It's something we haven't done a lot of."

Wakefield gave up two runs and two hits in two innings in relief of starter Ramon Martinez, who struggled through four innings. Wakefield struck out three and walked two.

The Red Sox had won eight of their previous 10 games.

The Rangers took a 2-0 lead in the third off Martinez when Chad Curtis doubled, stole third and scored ahead of Palmeiro's homer, which broke a string of 23 consecutive scoreless innings by Red Sox pitchers.

"I pitched him inside and missed by a couple of inches," said Martinez of the homer by Palmeiro. "He's a good hitter. If you make a mistake, you can't get away with it."

Boston tied it at 2 in the fourth when Troy O'Leary singled and Everett followed with his sixth homer.

Martinez, making his first start in nine days because of the rainouts, allowed two runs and three hits, struck out five and walked five.

Game notes
Rogers jammed his left elbow diving for a ball in the third inning. He will have precautionary X-rays on Tuesday but Rangers medical personnel don't think the injury is serious. ... Lamb was back in the lineup for the second straight game. Lamb made his major league debut Sunday against Minnesota. ... Boston pitchers allowed one run in their previous three games until Palmeiro's two-run blast in the third. ... Martinez threw 88 pitches in his four innings. ... Pedro Martinez, Ramon's brother, will start Tuesday's game after being postponed four times. ... Wetteland has 298 career saves.