Boston starter Josh Beckett delivers to the Texas Rangers in the second inning last night.

AP / Tony Gutierrez

ARLINGTON, Texas — Josh Beckett said he was ready to return to the mound for the Red Sox.

Manager Terry Francona, pitching coach John Farrell and the Sox’ training staff pronounced him ready to go, too.

Still, there had to be at least some uneasiness on the part of everyone in the organization when Beckett took the mound last night against the Texas Rangers. That would have been only natural, since the last time Beckett pitched, on Aug. 17, he was doing so despite tingling and numbness in his right pinkie and ring finger, a symptom of elbow issues.

After rest, a little throwing on the side, and a visit to renowned orthopedic surgeon James Andrews in Pensacola, Fla., on Aug. 29, the injury fears of Beckett and the team were calmed.

So there he was on the mound last night, and after looking a little rusty and/or too pumped up for his first batter, whom he fanned on a 3-and-2 pitch, Beckett proved to himself, the rest of the organization and to the Rangers that he may just be ready to resume his role as the ace on the staff as Boston chased a playoff berth.

When Beckett left, after throwing 80 pitches in five innings, he was in line for his 12th win, with the Red Sox leading Texas by 5-0. Beckett was backed by four RBI from Mike Lowell, in his first game back from the disabled list, and some shoddy fielding by the Rangers in Boston’s four-run, fourth-inning outburst.

Beckett didn’t walk a batter, struck out seven and gave up four hits.

The Red Sox wound up beating the Rangers, 8-1, improving their season record against Texas to 8-0. More importantly, the victory pulled Boston to within 2½ games of first-place Tampa Bay (3 in the loss column) in the American League East because the Rays were beaten in Toronto last night.

While Beckett was happy he earned the win, his objective last night was something different. And he was satisfied on that score, too.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say the most important thing tonight was my health,” said Becket.. “Winning was icing on the cake.”

Beckett admitted to feeling a little trepidation when he threw his first few pitches, wondering if the discomfort would return. Once he realized it hadn’t, he was fine, he said.

“Any time you come back after a long time, there’s always concern about your health your first time out,” said Beckett. “It’s my arm. But it passed the test. I thought I lost a little arm strength and leg strength (later in the outing). I hadn’t done any throwing for six or seven days (during the layoff). But this definitely was a steppingstone. Now I can go out in my next start and not worry about it.”

Francona, who was convinced by rehab coordinator Mike Reinold that Beckett would be OK with an 80-pitch workload, was pleased with what he saw.

“He went out and commanded really well,” said Francona. “He threw a little cutter that had late movement. Even when he missed, he was around the plate. He stayed in his delivery. He looked a little fatigued (in the fifth) but I thought he did a great job. When he left the game, he said he didn’t feel anything, that he was just pitching, which was really good to hear.”

Beckett’s early work was especially encouraging.

The right-hander was perfect through three innings, throwing a total of 40 pitches.

Perhaps not surprisingly, he relied on his fastball in the early going, wanting to loosen up before putting the necessary extra torque on his elbow to spin a curveball.

Of his 15 pitches in the first inning, 12 were fastballs, the other three curves. In a 15-pitch second inning, Beckett threw nothing but fastballs. He needed only 10 pitches to sail through the third inning, notching two strikeouts, which boosted his total to four over the first third of the game.

It was in the third inning that Beckett went to his secondary pitches. He threw one changeup to the first batter he faced, and his final four pitches were curveballs, and he continued to mix in all of his pitches the rest of the way.

Beckett’s perfect game and no-hitter, though, went out the window in the fourth, when leadoff batter Joaquin Arias reached base on his bouncer to shortstop Jed Lowrie. The Sox rookie hesitated a bit and his throw pulled first baseman Mark Kotsay off the bag a tad, and Arias was given a base hit.

Arias was wiped out on a double play, and then the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton and Milton Bradley lined clean base hits, putting runners at the corners. Beckett, though, notched another whiff when Jason Varitek held on to a foul tip off the bat of Hank Blalock, preserving his shutout.

In the fifth, Beckett worked around a two-out single by Gerald Laird and kept it a 5-0 game by getting Chris Davis to fish unsuccessfully for a curveball in the dirt, accounting for his seventh punchout of the game on his final pitch.

Beckett’s velocity was remarkably consistent. His fastball was clocked at 93-94 mph in the first inning, and he was 92-93 mph in his final inning. His curveball had serious downward action, as evidenced by numerous unsuccessful flailing swings at breaking balls in the dirt.

The radar-gun readings and the bite on his curveball last night were in stark contrast to his previous outing, when he was raked for eight hits and eight earned runs in only 2 1/3 innings Aug. 17.

The radar gun in Fenway Park that day had him at 97 mph, but his heater was straight as could be, and the Blue Jays whacked it all around the ballpark. Beckett’s curveball that day merely spun, having no downward movement at all. His hangers were crushed.

Last night was different. He looked more like the dominant Beckett that Sox fans saw last year, including his amazing postseason string of masterpieces that helped Boston claim its second World Series title in four seasons.

skrasner@projo.com