DENVER - The comparison, as commonly applied, tends to be odious. It makes John Henry quaver, Larry Lucchino combative, Theo Epstein defensive.
But perhaps in this one instance, the Red Sox will not object to being likened to the New York Yankees.
Only one American League team in 103 years of World Series play has executed a four-game sweep in successive Series appearances. The Yankees have done it on three occasions, the last when Joe Torre was still employed (1998-99).
Three years to the night Keith Foulke flipped to Doug Mientkiewicz for the final out of the 2004 Series, the Sox stand poised to become the second. The Sox took a six-run lead, then held off the Colorado Rockies, 10-5, in Game 3 of the 103d World Series before a crowd of 49,983 blissfully unaware of the real meaning of the white towels they waved with such fervor when this one started. Tonight, the Sox will send cancer survivor Jon Lester, 14 months after his diagnosis, to the mound for a potential closing scene that would make Hollywood blush and New Englanders weep.
Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, rookies who were otherwise engaged when the Sox won in 2004 - Pedroia in the Arizona Fall League, Ellsbury in college - rescued the Sox with back-to-back doubles in the eighth inning, fueling a three-run rally after the Rockies had drawn to within 6-5.
Jason Varitek's sacrifice fly in the ninth accounted for the final Sox run, and made it four times in their last five postseason games that they scored in double digits.
"Incredible night, wasn't it?" said Sox principal owner Henry, on the verge of accomplishing something no Sox owner has done since Joseph J. Lannin in 1915-16, winning multiple Series titles.
"Jacoby and Dustin and Oki and Paps, and [Daisuke] Matsuzaka pitched great tonight," Henry said. "What is there to say? No one knows better than we do what it's like to come back from a deficit."
Ellsbury (four hits) and Pedroia (three) combined to score three runs and drive in four, justifying manager Terry Francona's willingness to make them the first rookies to bat 1-2 in a Series lineup.
Ellsbury became the third rookie in Series history with four hits in a game, joining Fred Lindstrom of the New York Giants (Game 5, 1924) and Joe Garagiola of the Cardinals (Game 4, 1946).
"They were great," Epstein said as he walked out of Coors Field. "They've been a huge part of what's gone on here all season long."
Matt Holliday's three-run home run off Hideki Okajima pulled the Rockies to within a run, 6-5, in the seventh, but Okajima recovered and Jonathan Papelbon recorded the last four outs.
"I've seen a lot of games like this in Coors Field," Epstein said, "and the visitors don't usually win. That says a lot about our guys to pull together and make big pitches when they had to."
