ARLINGTON, Texas – Mark Teixeira scored the go-ahead run after ending the longest hitless streak since the start of his career and the Texas Rangers beat the Houston Astros 3-1 on Friday night to end a season-worst five-game losing streak.

Teixeira ended an 0-for-17 stretch when he led off the seventh against Roy Oswalt (6-4) with a bloop double that dropped between center fielder Willy Taveras and second baseman Chris Burke, who collided and were shaken up on the play. Neither left the game.

After Kevin Mench was intentionally walked with one out, Ian Kinsler singled and Brad Wilkerson walked with the bases loaded on a full-count pitch. That drove in Teixeira for a 2-1 lead.

Vicente Padilla (7-5) allowed four hits over eight innings with five strikeouts and one walk. Akinori Otsuka worked the ninth for his 16th save in 18 chances.

Kinsler also homered for the Rangers, who were coming off a 1-5 road trip. Mark DeRosa and Michael Young had consecutive doubles in the eighth for another run.

The Astros are 1-6 on their road trip, and have lost four straight. They scored for the first time in three games.

Oswalt allowed three runs and nine hits in his first complete game this season.

Teixeira was hitless in his previous four games and was 0-for-2 Friday before his hit starting the seventh. The only time he went five games without a hit was in April 2003 when he was 0-for-15 to start his career.

Taveras was coming in and made a sliding attempt on Teixeira’s hit and Burke was going out when his left foot slammed into the outfielder’s inner thigh and Burke tumbled hard to the ground. Both players remained on the ground for several minutes while being tended to, but remained in the game.

Houston, shut out its last two games during a three-game sweep in Detroit, snapped a 21-inning scoreless streak in the second inning when Lance Berkman led off with a double and scored on Preston Wilson’s single.

The Rangers tied the game 1-1 in the bottom half of the inning when Kinsler’s sixth homer barely cleared the 14-foot wall in left.

Astros manager Phil Garner didn’t serve his one-game suspension as scheduled Friday night. He has asked for a review of the penalty, which came after he was ejected Monday night from a loss at Detroit and threw a chair onto the field.

Roger Clemens won’t pitch in the series and isn’t with the Astros this weekend. But his wife, Debbie, was in Arlington for the second annual softball game Friday between the Astros and Rangers wives – that game ended in a 14-14 tie.

The 43-year-old seven-time Cy Young winner attended the Rangers’ season opener against the Red Sox when he was still a free agent and trying to decide whether to pitch again this season. Clemens (0-2) is scheduled to make his third start since rejoining the Astros on Monday at home against the Chicago Cubs.

Notes: Mike Lamb flew out at the end of a 16-pitch at-bat in the sixth. That accounted for one-fifth of Padilla’s 81 pitches to that point. … Texas Gov. Rick Perry attended the game, sitting in Rangers owner Tom Hicks’ field-level box. There were a few boos when he was introduced in the second inning. … Young grounded into two double plays, increasing his season total to 18. … The Rangers agreed to terms with two more draft picks: RHP Craig Crow (11th round) and LHP Daniel Hobel (29th round).

AP-ES-06-30-06 2256EDT