Manny Ramirez connects for an RBI-triple in the sixth inning last night.

AP / LM Otero LM Otero

ARLINGTON, Texas — In the first week of the season, Tim Wakefield pitched one of the best games of any Red Sox starter this year, yielding only three hits and one earned run in six innings. But he was still saddled with the loss, thanks to no run support.

It could be said, then, that he had last night coming.

Wakefield wasn’t as sharp last night as he was back on April 6, but his backing was far better. The knuckleballer survived a three-run fifth and snapped a personal two-game losing steak as the Sox beat back the Texas Rangers, 7-4.

The win gave the surging Red Sox an 11-game bulge in the A.L. East, their largest to date. The Sox have won three of their last four and wrap up their six-game road trip this afternoon.

Wakefield pitched seven innings and gave up four earned runs, evening his record at 5-5.

Javy Lopez and Brendan Donnelly took care of the eighth before Jonathan Papelbon came in to notch his 12th save.

Manny Ramirez produced half of the Red Sox’ eight hits, falling a homer shy of the cycle with a triple, double and two singles for his first four-hit game of the season and his first since last Aug. 18.

“Seeing him swing the bat like that is gratifying,” said manager Terry Francona. “He took some good swings.”

The Sox rebounded from a 4-2 deficit when they erupted for five runs in the sixth. The Rangers issued four walks that inning.

Like fellow starter Brandon McCarthy the night before, Texas right-hander Vicente Padilla was done in partly by his lack of control.

Following a leadoff single by Kevin Youkilis, Ramirez drilled an opposite-field triple into the right-field corner, plating Youkilis. A wild pitch from Padilla enabled Ramirez to trot home from third and tie the game.

A walk to J.D. Drew and a single by Mike Lowell kept the inning going and signaled the end of the night for Padilla. But his replacement, Joaquin Benoit, was no more effective.

He quickly yielded an RBI-single up the middle to Coco Crisp, then walked No. 8 hitter Doug Mirabelli to fill the bases.

A sacrifice fly to center from Alex Cora scored Lowell, and two more walks one to Julio Lugo and another to Youkilis forced in the fifth run of the inning.

“For me, the encouraging thing was that we came right back,” said Francona. “That’s a good way to play the game. We didn’t let them get comfortable [with the lead].”

Wakefield had retired 11 of the first 13 hitters of the night when the Rangers stirred in the fifth.

Gerald Laird doubled to left, scoring Frank Catalanotto (hit-by-pitch) and Marlon Byrd (single), giving Texas a 3-2 edge.

A sharp single to left from Ramon Vazquez gave Texas two runners in scoring position and Kenny Lofton delivered Laird from third on a sacrifice fly, Laird beating Ramirez’s poor throw to the plate.

Wakefield righted himself after the fifth, getting five of the next six hitters he faced. In five of the seven innings he pitched, in fact, Wakefield faced the minimum number of hitters.

“I would have liked to have that fifth inning back,” said Wakefield. “I felt like I was still throwing the ball well, but they hit some balls that found holes. [The quick innings] are a barometer for me — it tells me I’m in the strike zone, getting good movement and getting swings early in the count.

Youkilis, extending his hitting streak to 18 games, produced his first of two hits in the fourth, a double to left off Padilla.

Padilla then walked David Ortiz and Ramirez to fill the bases. The slumping J.D. Drew hit what appeared to be a tailor-made double play to first baseman Mark Teixeira. But after Teixeira’s throw to second forced Ramirez, Michael Young’s throw back to first went over Padilla’s head. Youkilis had already scored and the error enabled Ortiz to score all the way from second.

Texas had taken a 1-0 lead in the second when Sammy Sosa stroked a leadoff double to left and rode home on Byrd’s single.

smcadam@projo.com