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Rodriguez sharp in debut as Red Sox beat Rangers

Eduardo Rodriguez tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings in his major-league debut and the Boston Red Sox took the opener of a four-game series from the Texas Rangers 5-1 on Thursday.

The 22-year-old Rodriguez (1-0) yielded just three hits and a pair of walks in his first big league action, becoming the first Boston pitcher to win his first start since Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2007.

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Nick Martinez (4-1) suffered his first defeat of the season despite limiting Boston to just two runs over seven innings.

It was a scoreless tie until the fifth inning, when Blake Swihart singled to start the top half against Martinez. Two batters later, Dustin Pedroia singled to move Swihart into scoring position for Mookie Betts, who knocked him in with a single to left.

Hanley Ramirez led off the sixth with a home run to left-center to make it 2-0. The long ball was the first that Martinez has given up to a righty since Aug. 4, 2014.

Boston padded its lead against a pair of relievers in the eighth. Tanner Scheppers walked Mike Napoli with two outs and gave way to Sam Freeman, who immediately loaded the bases by hitting Brock Holt with a pitch and walking Carlos Peguero.

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Swihart delivered a two-run single to right and Peguero scored on Rusney Castillo's infield single.

Rodriguez issued a four-pitch walk to Robinson Chirinos and Delino DeShields singled to right with two outs in the eighth inning, ending his outing at 105 pitches. Tommy Layne came on and struck out Shin-Soo Choo looking to keep the shutout intact.

Earlier, Josh Hamilton ripped a double to right on the first pitch he saw from Rodriguez. Hamilton was making his home season debut and playing in front of Rangers fans as a member of the team for the first time since Texas lost the A.L. Wild Card game in 2012.

Hamilton, who spent five years with Texas, was acquired in a trade from the Angels last month.

He capped his return home by plating the lone Texas run with an RBI single in the ninth.

Game Notes

Rodriguez became the first pitcher to go at least seven innings and allow no runs on three or fewer hits in his debut since Houston's Jarred Cosart on July 12, 2012 ... Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts left the game with a left forearm injury ... Martinez has now gone 16 straight starts without allowing more than three runs to set a club record ... Pedroia and Betts had three hits apiece for Boston, which outhit Texas 13-5 ... Hamilton has 51 RBI in 56 career games against Boston.

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[SportsNetwork.com]

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