Boston manager Terry Francona, left, takes the ball from starter Tim Wakefield, who failed to complete two innings against Texas last night.

AP / Tony Gutierrez

ARLINGTON, Texas — A glorious opportunity was presented to the Boston Red Sox before they took the field for their game last night against the Texas Rangers.

They knew a 13th-inning grand slam by Toronto’s Gregg Zaun had given the Blue Jays a come-from-behind victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

All the Sox had to do was beat the Rangers again and they would slice their deficit to 1½ games behind the first-place Rays in the American League East with a three-game series in Fenway Park looming on the schedule, beginning tomorrow night.

The Rangers, though, had other ideas. Texas took advantage of Tim Wakefield’s command troubles in erupting for seven runs after two were out in the second inning en route to a 15-8 triumph at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

The win was the first in nine games for Texas against Boston this season.

It was a milestone outing for Wakefield, who was making his third start since leaving the disabled list, placed there on Aug. 12 because of discomfort in the back of his right shoulder.

And his 500th appearance and 363rd start had the makings of a special game for the knuckleballer. Wakefield retired the first five batters he faced on a total of only 12 pitches.

But then the game turned into a nightmare for Wakefield and the Sox.

After retiring Hank Blalock on a routine fly ball to left for the second out of the second inning, Wakefield threw 37 more pitches — and never did register the third out of the inning before manager Terry Francona yanked him, much to the pitcher’s obvious irritation.

By the time Wakefield trudged off the mound, seven Rangers had dented home plate, putting Texas on top, 7-1. He left runners at first and third and his earned-run average was spared any more indignity because his replacement, Chris Smith, picked off Blalock at first base.

Nevertheless, the 1 2/3-inning outing marked his shortest start as a member of the Red Sox, and the second-shortest of his career. Wakefield was knocked out after only one inning on June 11, 1993, when he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The carnage of the seven-run outburst at his expense was reflected in his earned-run average, which jumped from 3.76 to 4.11. And it wasn’t as if the Rangers were whacking the ball all around the park.

Wakefield’s command with his knuckler just left him after Gerald Laird whistled a double past left fielder Jason Bay on Wakefield’s 14th pitch. A wild pitch and a passed ball moved Laird around the bases for the Rangers’ first run of the game, tying the score at 1-1.

Then, in order, came a walk, another walk, a bloop RBI single by German Duran, a hit batsman, an RBI walk to Brandon Boggs, an RBI walk to Michael Young, a two-run single by Josh Hamilton and an RBI single by Blalock.

The problem for Francona was when to lift Wakefield. Pitching coach John Farrell had gone out early during the trouble, and there are times when Wakefield can just as suddenly regain command of his knuckler as he can suddenly lose command of it.

Finally, after Blalock’s hit, Francona could wait no longer. Smith was ready, so Francona walked slowly out of the dugout to hook his struggling pitcher. Wakefield reacted as if he were surprised, putting his hands on his hips and turning around in apparent disbelief that he wasn’t going to be able to continue.

The sudden turnaround in fortunes for Wakefield mirrored the ineffectiveness of the team’s offense in the top of the second. Boston tallied one run, but should have had more.

The Red Sox raked rookie Texas left-hander Matt Harrison for four straight hits with one out, yet had only a 1-0 lead to show for it. Bay rifled a one-out double to left-center, went to third on Mike Lowell’s single and scored on Jed Lowrie’s single to right.

Lowell stopped at second on Lowrie’s hit. And when Coco Crisp dropped in a single to left-center, an indecisive Lowell, playing in only his second game after a stint on the disabled list, hesitated between second and third and was throw out at home.

Boggs, the Rangers’ left fielder, seemingly conceded Lowell the run because he threw the ball to second base to hold Crisp to a single. After catching Boggs’ throw, second baseman Duran turned and whipped a throw home that easily nailed the sliding Lowell.

The Sox cut their deficit in half on a three-run, third-inning homer by Kevin Youkilis, who had missed five of the previous six games. But Nelson Cruz took Smith deep to center for a two-run blast in the bottom of the third and Cruz went deep against Mike Timlin for a solo shot in the fifth that restored Texas’ six-run bulge, at 10-4.

A three-run flurry surrendered by Timlin in the sixth put the game out of reach and kept Boston 2½ games behind the Rays.Rangers

15

Red Sox

8

Next Game

Today

at Texas,

3:05 p.m.

skrasner@projo.com