Red Sox sweep Angels on Ortiz's homer

The Boston slugger's walk-off blast in the 10th eliminated Anaheim.
BOSTON (AP) -- This self-proclaimed band of idiots is going to play for the pennant.
David Ortiz homered in the 10th inning to send the Boston Red Sox into their second consecutive AL championship series, completing a three-game sweep of the Anaheim Angels with an 8-6 victory Friday.
Ortiz also had a pair of doubles as Boston rode starter Bronson Arroyo to a five-run lead after six innings. But Vladimir Guerrero hit a grand slam to tie it 6-all in the seventh and send the game to extra innings.
Derek Lowe, bounced from the rotation after a horrible stretch run, got out of a first-and-third jam in the top of the 10th and earned the win. Losing pitcher Francisco Rodriguez gave up a leadoff single to Johnny Damon in the bottom half; two outs later, Angels manager Mike Scioscia brought in Game 1 starter Jarrod Washburn for the lefty-lefty matchup against Ortiz.
Hits first pitch
Ortiz hit the first pitch over the Green Monster to send the Fenway Park crowd -- so quiet since Guerrero's homer -- into pandemonium.
"I just (didn't) feel like going back to California," he said.
With the sweep, the Red Sox have four days to rest for the AL championship series that starts Tuesday. Their opponent will be either the archrival New York Yankees or the Minnesota Twins; they were tied one game apiece as the series moved to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday night.
"We want to get to the World Series, whichever way we have to," Arroyo said.
Last year's Red Sox used the theme "Cowboy Up" in the regular season, before they went belly up in the playoffs against the Yankees. Center fielder Johnny Damon declared this week that they were down on "Cowboy Up" and instead were just "idiots" with bad hair and dirty uniforms who were out for fun on the field.
Victory lap
Manny Ramirez and first baseman Kevin Millar took a victory lap in the outfield after the game, spraying champagne on fans and hugging in the outfield.
"It's like a big frat house," Damon said during the postgame celebration. "We have a lot of fun. We enjoy each other."
Ortiz, Boston's happy-go-lucky MVP candidate -- one of two, with Ramirez, actually -- could be chapter chairman. He doubled and scored when Boston took a 2-0 lead in the third, then doubled in a run in the fourth when Boston made it 5-1.
It was 6-1 in the seventh before Mike Timlin walked Darin Erstad with the bases loaded. Guerrero, also a leading MVP candidate after propelling Anaheim to the AL West title, tied the game with a dramatic shot to right-center.
Costly decision
Rodriguez pitched two scoreless innings and struck out Ramirez for the second out in the 10th, but Scioscia went with Washburn, who allowed seven runs in 31/3 innings to take the loss in the series opener.
He was making his first relief appearance since 1999.
"Frankie was at a high pitch count. I think he was getting tired," Scioscia said. "With a young arm like Frankie's I think you want to err on the side of caution."
Anaheim, which has lost seven consecutive games to Boston, failed to make a serious run at repeating its World Series title of 2002 despite a free-agent spending spree that brought Guerrero, Bartolo Colon, Kelvim Escobar and Jose Guillen.
The Angels will get no sympathy from Boston, which has been hoping to repeat its magical year of 1918 ever since Babe Ruth was shipped south to the Yankees.
ANAHEIMBOSTON
abrhbiabrhbi
Figgins 2b5010Damon cf5130
Erstad 1b3111Bllhorn 2b4200
VGrero rf4114Reese pr0100
GAndsn cf5020MRmrz lf5022
Glaus dh5111DOrtiz dh6243
DVnon lf3100Nixon rf3011
BMolna c2000Millar 1b3002
Ktchm ph0000Mntkw 1b1000
JMolna c1100Varitek c4000
Mcphrs 3b2000OCbera ss5000
ARiggs ph0000Mueller 3b5220
Pride ph1000
Amzga 2b1000
Eckstin ss5120
Totals37686Totals418128
Anaheim0001005000--6
Boston0023100002--8
Two outs when winning run scored.
E--Figgins (2), Eckstein (1). DP--Anaheim 1. LOB--Anaheim 10, Boston 12. 2B--Erstad (1), DOrtiz 2 (2). HR--VGuerrero (1), Glaus (2), DOrtiz (1). SB--Damon (3). S--Amezaga. SF--MRamirez.
IPHRERBBSO
Anaheim
KEscobar3 1-355354
Shields1 1-341111
Donnelly2 1-300005
FRodriguez L,0-22 2-321113
Washburn011100
Boston
Arroyo632227
MMyers001110
Timlin2-323311
Embree2-300010
Foulke1 2-320013
DLowe W,1-0110010
Washburn pitched to 1 batter in the 10th, Arroyo pitched to 1 batter in the 7th, MMyers pitched to 1 batter in the 7th. HBP--by Arroyo (Figgins). Umpires--Home, Brian Runge; First, Gary Cederstrom; Second, Ed Montague; Third, Kerwin Danley; Left, Larry Young; Right, Jerry Meals. T--4:11. A--35,547.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.