BOSTON -- Elvis Andrus and the Texas Rangers didnt let their recent problems bother them. Andrus hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the seventh inning after earlier ending a 1-for-18 slump. And his team beat the Red Sox 3-2 on Wednesday night one day after getting thumped by Boston 17-5. "It was a huge win for us," Andrus said. "Were really good trying to turn the page and be ready for the next game. Thats the way weve had success so far the last couple of years." He went 2 for 4 in the meeting of the ALs top two teams. He singled in the fifth, and hopes the hitting will carry over for a while. "You cant get (frustrated)," said Andrus, whose batting average has dropped from .282 to .261 in his last 14 games. "I know I havent found my swing so far this year, but, at some point, it will get back. So Im really glad just to do something for the team to get a win." The victory gave the Rangers their best record through the first 58 games at 36-22 -- their previous best was 35-23 three times in the 1990s. They also broke a four-game road losing streak. Texas has the best record in the AL, while Boston is second at 36-24 after its three-game winning streak was stopped. The Rangers also got a big lift from Alexi Ogando, who returned after being on the disabled list since May 16 with a strained right biceps. He allowed one run on three hits in 5 2-3 innings and left after allowing Dustin Pedroias tying homer with two outs in the sixth. "To be out two weeks and to get a rehab start and throw 60 pitches," Texas manager Ron Washington said, "and then come against that lineup that showed what their might is about last night and shut them down like that, he deserves a lot of credit. It was a lift for us. We needed it." Five Texas pitchers allowed Boston just five hits one day after the Red Sox got 19, including 13 for extra bases, in the opener of the three-game series. Neal Cotts (1-0) got his first win since 2006 despite walking three of the four batters he faced. Craig Breslow (2-1) took the loss. Jarrod Saltalamacchia doubled in a run for Boston in the eighth, but Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 18th save in 19 chances. John Lackey, sidelined all last season after Tommy John elbow surgery, gave up one run -- Adrian Beltres 12th homer of the season in the fourth -- and five hits in six innings. He lowered his ERA from 2.96 to 2.79. "Im definitely taking some positives out of it," he said. "I think Ill take giving up one run for the rest of the way," His catcher was impressed. "I thought he threw the ball great. Velocity was really up there," Saltalamacchia said. "There was a couple times where the ball was actually hurting my hand. He was able to throw that ball over the plate." In the fifth, Andrus singled off Lackey then got the big hit on the first pitch from reliever Koji Uehara, his teammate in Texas the past two seasons. "Elvis usually does that type of stuff," Washington said. "It seems like when hes in those types of situations where the team needed a lift and hes up there he finds a way to come through. Weve known Koji for quite a while. He was with us and (Andrus) didnt waste any time. He jumped on his first pitch. He knows Koji likes to throw strikes and he jumped on it." Breslow had relieved Lackey to start the seventh and allowed a leadoff double to Mitch Moreland, who left the game with tightness in his right hamstring and was replaced by pinch-runner Jeff Baker. After Jurickson Profar grounded out, pinch-hitter Craig Gentry walked and Uehara replaced Breslow to face Andrus, who broke the 1-1 tie. Boston threatened with no outs in the seventh when Stephen Drew led off with a walk and went to second on a single by Jose Iglesias. After Jackie Bradley Jr. struck out, both runners advanced on a wild pitch. But Daniel Nava grounded out and Jonny Gomes flied out. Saltalamacchias double in the eighth drove in Mike Napoli, who walked with two outs. NOTES: Moreland said he would return to Texas for an MRI and hoped to be back for Thursday nights game. ... Lackey didnt get a decision for the first time in his nine starts. He allowed three runs or less for the eighth time this season. ... Iglesias reached base for the 17th time in his 18 games. ... To make room for Ogando, the Rangers sent LHP Joseph Ortiz to Triple-A Round Rock. Ortiz allowed six runs in 2 1-3 innings in Bostons win on Tuesday night. ... Derek Holland (5-2) pitches for Texas against Jon Lester (6-2) on Thursday night. Cheap Authentic NCAA Jerseys . The Barrie Colts defenceman, who impressed many with his play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, is the top-ranked skater in the February rankings. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. Cheap NCAA Jerseys . Peter Gammons, an analyst for Major League Baseballs network and website, drew the ire of hockey fans on Sunday when he criticized the two NHL teams on Twitter for their physical game the night before. http://www.cheapcollegejerseys.us.com/ . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. Cheap NCAA Jerseys China . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Cheap College Jerseys China . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. RIO DE JANEIRO -- A decade ago, when Olympic sprinter Justin Gatlin was banned from his sport for a doping violation, he thought about spending his time playing professional football.He tried out with the Houston Texans. And then with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Gatlin quickly learned that it takes more than just world-class speed to make it in the NFL.Its so tough, he told The Associated Press. I would say that how track and field is built without a union and its a dog-eat-dog world, thats how it is to get into football. Its the same thing: a dog-eat-dog world. I respect all those athletes who are trying to try out for teams.Theyre judged not only by their athleticism, he said, but if they even need them.But what if you did judge NFL players and Olympic athletes only on athleticism? What if you were to throw out everything but the barest of statistics -- speed, strength, vertical jump?Who would be the superior athletes?Of course, such a simple question has no simple answer. Not even those involved in the debate seem willing to hazard a guess, perhaps trying to ensure that their separate sports receive their own due.Make no mistake: They are separate. But comparing them -- sprinters to NFL running backs, linemen to weightlifters, wide receivers to high jumpers -- is at least an entertaining endeavor.Speed comes in all different kinds of forms, said Gatlin, the reigning 100-meter Olympic bronze medalist. All the fast guys you can think of, we all can run -- lets say we run 9.99 (in the 100). We all have different strategies and forms to run 9.99. We all get to the same point in different ways.For a football guy, hes explosive and powerful, Gatlin said. So if we race in the 40 or 60 or something, I dont know exactly how it would turn out. They might have more explosive speed from the line than I would, because even though Im a fast guy at the start, I might have to build my speed up because thats how Im programmed to do it.Rarely do NFL players run more than 40 yards at a time, which is partly why times for 40-yard dashes are such common descriptors of speed. The record at the NFL combine was 4.24 seconds in 2008 by Chris Johnson, the former Pro Bowl running back who once boasted he could beat Usain Bolt in a race of that distance.Gatlin said hes run unofficial 40-yard times between 4.12 and 4.35 seconds.I would win on the tail end, he said, but it would be good competition on the front end.Trying to compare NFL linemen to weightlifters may be even more difficult.The lifts done by football players tend to be the more common strength-training lifts such as the dead lift and bench press.ddddddddddddIn fact, the biggest strength indicator at the NFL combine is the bench press, where rookies-to-be are required to lift 225 pounds as many times as possible.The record is 49 repetitions set by Redskins defensive tackle Stephen Paea in 2011.Thats a worthy feat, so I cant make light of it, said Kendrick Farris, the lone mens Olympic weightlifter representing the U.S. at the Rio Games. But if weightlifters focused on that particular exercise with that load, the results would be quite interesting.Instead, they focus on two particular lifts: the snatch, in which the weight is lifted from the ground to overhead in one movement, and the clean and jerk, where the bar is lifted in two movements. The combined results of the lifts determine the placement in a competition.Being strong is important, but technique is also a significant factor.If football wasnt my thing, I would probably pursue strongest man, Paea said, because Ive got the lower center of gravity, things like that. Im pretty strong on the squat, too.Weightlifting, youve got to give it to them, he added, but if it comes to like overall running, all those conditioning (aspects) with it, wed probably give them a good run for their money.How about comparing vertical leaps among NFL players to Olympic high jumping? Well, its similar to weightlifting in that athletic ability and technique go hand-in-hand.You wont see a wide receiver flopping backward over a bar while hauling in a touchdown pass.I know a couple of people in college who did the high jump and they have some springs, man, said Chiefs wide receiver Chris Conley, whose 45-inch vertical at the 2015 NFL combine is the record.They can definitely jump a lot higher than me. It takes a lot, he said. Technique is the most important thing. At some point theres God-given talent, but when it comes to that level of jumping, the difference between the world record and that level of medaling is all in the details.One thing all those athletes can agree on? They love watching their counterparts compete.We have a lot of swimmers from (my alma mater) Georgia that qualify every year and I know some of them, Conley said. I like to watch because its my background, but I also know people there as well.---AP Sports Writers Rob Maaddi, Pat Graham and Stephen Whyno contributed to this report. ' ' '
