ARLINGTON, Texas – Adrian Gonzalez and the Boston Red Sox powered their way to some payback in Texas.

Gonzalez homered twice to give him five in four games, Andrew Miller pitched three-hit ball in a spot start and the Red Sox beat the Rangers 6-0 on Thursday night.

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Adrian Gonzalez follows through Thursday night on a first-inning home run in Boston’s 6-0 win at Texas. Gonzalez added a two-run homer in the third and has five in three games. The Associated Press

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Miller threw 6 1/3 impressive innings and the Red Sox took the final three games in a four-game series between American League division leaders.

Boston was swept in a three-game set at Texas to begin the season en route to an 0-6 start. Now, that seems a distant memory.

“We have a lot of respect for (the Rangers) and they really beat us up a little bit, especially down here,” Red Sox Manager Terry Francona said. “But we played good tonight and that’s what we wanted to do.”

Gonzalez hit a solo shot in the first inning and a two-run drive in the third off Alexi Ogando (12-6), giving him homers on three consecutive swings, including one in the eighth inning of Boston’s 13-2 rout Wednesday night.

Gonzalez, who had his 13th career multihomer game, had gone 84 at-bats without a home run before hitting one in the first inning of Tuesday night’s 11-5 win.

“I hit them in spurts, everybody knows that,” Gonzalez said. “When I have a good swing, it’s just a feeling you have. You hit them in bunches, and this is a time right now when I feel good and hopefully I can keep swinging like that.”

David Ortiz and Jarrod Saltalamacchia also connected for the Red Sox, who have won 6 of 8 and remain one game ahead of New York in the AL East. The Yankees pummeled Oakland 22-9 earlier Thursday.

Miller (6-1), who has also pitched in relief twice this season, struck out six and walked two in his 10th start. He got the assignment because Francona pushed Tim Wakefield back a day, giving the knuckleballer his sixth shot at his 200th victory at home tonight against Oakland.

Miller said the early run support was most welcome.

“It’s huge when those guys go out there and score runs like that,” Miller said. “It’s certainly easier as a pitcher. You attack, you’re aggressive and you’re not pitching to avoid one run, you’re just pitching to get out of the inning as quickly as you can and get those guys back to the plate.”

The Rangers, who have dropped 5 of 6, held a seven-game lead in the AL West over the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 17. That margin has shrunk to two games entering tonight’s opener of a three-games series between the teams in Texas.

The Angels, who have won six straight, were idle Thursday.

Ogando allowed a career-high four homers, the same number he yielded in his previous 12 starts, among six hits in four innings as he failed to join C.J. Wilson as the Rangers’ second 13-game winner.

Texas was a 4-0 winner in the opener of the series, but Boston took the final three games by a total score of 30-7.

“They whipped our butts for three days,” Rangers Manager Ron Washington said. “We couldn’t pitch to stop them and we couldn’t get anything going offensively.”

With two outs and nobody on in the first, Gonzalez lofted Ogando’s fastball onto the grass hill beyond the center-field wall.

Ortiz led off the second with a drive into the right-field seats for his 25th homer to give Boston a 2-0 pad. Ortiz had missed nine games because of bursitis in his right heel before returning to the lineup Wednesday night, when he went 2 for 5 and scored twice.

Ortiz has his eighth 25-homer season for Boston, second in club history behind Ted Williams’ 14.

With Jed Lowrie on first in the third, Gonzalez pounded an Ogando fastball 448 feet into the Boston bullpen in left-center for his 23rd homer and a 4-0 edge.

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