With the Red Sox farm system seemingly churning out major league-ready players every other day now - see you again soon, Craig Hansen; nice to meet you, Jon Lester - a couple of golden oldies spoke up for the senior set in last night's 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers. Tim Wakefield, Class of 1995 and the longest-tenured Red Sox, allowed just four hits over seven strong innings. Trot Nixon, Class of 1996 and a '93 draft pick of the Sox, had four hits himself, including a three-run homer in the first inning. The Sox moved one-half game ahead of the Yankees for first place in the AL East.

Rookie still-a-sensation Jonathan Papelbon barely had time to dwell on his first blown save of the season after he gave up Hank Blalock's two-out, game-tying RBI single in the eighth. Once Mike Lowell's sacrifice fly off Francisco Cordero in the bottom of the frame scored the go-ahead run, Papelbon responded with a fist pump-deserving ninth inning for his first victory this year.

"I really thought Wakefield deserved this win. I don't think I deserved to win," Papelbon said. "It was just a good team effort, one that says a lot about our ballclub, the way we played tonight."

Hansen, making his season debut, relieved Wakefield to start the eighth with a 3-2 lead to preserve.

After Lowell and Kevin Youkilis combined on a jaw-dropping defensive play for the first out, Hansen allowed back-to-back singles, putting runners on the corners. The right-hander managed to retire Mark Teixeira before manager Terry Francona called for Papelbon in the bullpen. That was the last time Sox fans will see Hansen in the near future. He was sent back to Triple-A Pawtucket afterward to make room for today's starter, Jon Lester, on the roster.

Papelbon, meanwhile, yielded Blalock's single, snapping his 20-for-20 run in converted saves to start the season.

Lowell's RBI in the last of the eighth, however, erased that disappointment and inspired Papelbon to his customary ninth-inning domination.

But the late-inning lead changes were only a distraction to the early and steady efforts from Wakefield and Nixon.

With just four wins and a paucity of run support nearly all season, Wakefield and his 3.93 ERA deserve much better than his 4-7 record.

"Unfortunately the wins aren't in my column, but I felt like I've done my job as a starter to try to keep us in the game for a long period of time," said Wakefield, who's been bothered by a back problem since his last start at Detroit. ``The runs will come eventually, I'm not too worried about that. I'm just really glad to be playing on this team with the great defense that we have behind us. . . . These guys are going to score a lot of runs."

Nixon launched his sixth homer of the season to right in the first, staking the Sox a 3-0 lead. Michael Young's two-run homer off Wakefield in the third was the only damage the knuckleballer sustained.

A minor lapse by a couple of youngsters prevented him from getting a win, but by evening's end, everything was put back in its place.

The seniority system worked out after all.