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(Sports Network) - The Boston Red Sox seem to have regained their championship form. The defending World Series winners will shoot for their sixth victory in seven tries when the Texas Rangers invade Fenway Park this evening for the opener of a four-game series.

Boston returns home after winning three times during a four-game road trip against 2007 playoff participants Cleveland and New York. After dropping a 15-9 decision to the hated Yankees on Wednesday, the Red Sox exacted their revenge with a 7-5 triumph in last night's finale.

Manny Ramirez led the way with three hits, including a pair of home runs, and three RBI to back eight solid innings from Sox starter Josh Beckett. J.D. Drew added a two-run double for Boston, which roared out to a 7-0 lead before holding on.

Beckett (2-1) was charged with six hits and three runs to beat the Yankees for the second time in six days. The standout righty threw 6 2/3 innings of three- run ball in Boston's 4-3 decision over the Bronx Bombers last Saturday at Fenway Park.

Ramirez went deep in each of his first two at-bats and now has 495 career homers, moving the veteran slugger past Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff and into 24th place on baseball all-time list.

Daisuke Matsuzaka will kick off this homestand for Boston and goes in search of a fourth consecutive winning start tonight, although the Japanese sensation was fortunate to garner a victory in his most recent trip to the hill.

Matsuzaka struggled mightily with his command in Sunday's matchup with the New York Yankees, as the star right-hander walked six New York batters in a shaky five-inning, 116-pitch outing. He allowed four runs and five hits as well, but was bailed out by the Boston offense in the club's 8-5 win.

Control has been an issue for Matsuzaka this season, as he's walked 15 in 23 1/3 innings. However, the 27-year-old is limiting opposing batters to a .165 average and surrendered just three runs over 18 1/3 frames prior to Sunday's start.

Matsuzaka took on Texas once during his first major league campaign of 2007 and came away a winner despite being reached for five runs in five innings. That start came in Arlington on May 25 of last year.

The Rangers counter with former Red Sox farmhand Luis Mendoza, who will oppose his original professional organization for the first time. The 24-year-old spent four-plus years in the Boston system before being traded to Texas for relief pitcher Bryan Corey on July 30, 2006.

Mendoza went 1-0 with an impressive 2.25 ERA in six games, including three starts, in a September callup but started out this season on the disabled list due to a finger blister. He was activated in time to start last Saturday's game with Toronto, in which Mendoza was dealt a loss after allowing four runs and eight hits over five innings of work. Only one of those runs was earned, however, because of a costly error by third baseman Hank Blalock.

Texas comes in off an impressive two-game sweep of Toronto, which was completed with last night's 4-1 victory. Gerald Laird drove in a pair of runs and Vicente Padilla worked seven outstanding innings for the Rangers, who had lost five in a row prior to their two wins over the Blue Jays.

Padilla (2-1) yielded one run on seven hits to earn the win, while C.J. Wilson picked up his fifth save in as many chances with a scoreless ninth.

David Murphy doubled three times, knocked in a run and scored twice to aid in the winning effort, while Ian Kinsler went 3-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base for Texas.

The Rangers played Thursday's game without shortstop Michael Young (strained calf) and Blalock (stiff back). Young is considered day-to-day with his injury, while Blalock will likely not play again tonight.

Boston won six of its 10 encounters with Texas last season and is 18-10 against the Rangers since the start of the 2005 campaign. These teams did split a four-game series in Fenway Park between June 29-July 2, 2007.