CLEVELAND — Jed Lowrie had an unforgettable major league debut. Jason Varitek's first appearance last night wasn't bad, either.

Lowrie drove in three runs in his first game for Boston and Varitek hit a pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning off Jensen Lewis, leading the Red Sox to a 5-3 win over the Cleveland Indians and a sweep of the two-game ALCS rematch.

Varitek didn't start as Kevin Cash caught knuckleballing starter Tim Wakefield. But after warming up in the bullpen, the 36-year-old Varitek came up with one out in the ninth and drove a 1-2 sinker from Lewis (0-1) the opposite way to left-center for his third career homer as a pinch-hitter.

"I've had my fair share of appearances as a pinch-hitter over my career," Varitek said while icing his knees. "I haven't been able to do that very often."

Red Sox manager Terry Francona is concerned about playing Varitek too much and wanted to give him the whole night off. But needing a big hit, he turned to the veteran and Varitek delivered.

"We can't have him catch 162 games," Francona said. "I struggle with that. Doesn't look like 'Tek does."

Following Varitek's third homer this season, Boston made it 5-3 on Kevin Youkilis' RBI single.

The Red Sox, who won three straight over the Indians to advance to the World Series last October, will take a four-game winning streak to New York for a two-game set at Yankee Stadium starting tonight. The rivals just met last weekend.

David Aardsma (1-1) got the final out in the eighth and Hideki Okajima worked the ninth for his first save.

Lowrie's first major league hit — a two-run single in the seventh — gave the Red Sox a 3-2 lead.

TIGERS 6, TWINS 5: Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer to cap a three-run eighth-inning rally, and host Detroit, which rallied for six runs in the eighth inning in Monday's 11-9 win, also got home runs from Magglio Ordonez, Gary Sheffield and Carlos Guillen to beat Minnesota.

Angels 7, Rangers 4: Gary Matthews Jr. snapped out of a 3-for-27 slide with a three-run double to left-center in the top of the sixth inning off Josh Rupe (0-1) to break a 4-all tie and help visiting Los Angeles hand Texas its fifth straight loss.

White Sox 4, Athletics 1: John Danks (1-1) celebrated his 23rd birthday with his first win in 12 starts, scattering five singles over 7 2/3 scoreless innings, and Carlos Quentin hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning to lead host Chicago past Oakland.

Mariners 11, Royals 6: Jose Lopez became the 12th player in major league history to hit three sacrifice flies in a game, Yuniesky Betancourt drove in three runs and Miguel Batista (1-2) allowed seven hits and four runs in five innings as host Seattle beat Kansas City.

Yankees 5, Rays 3: Andy Pettitte (2-1) gave up nine hits — seven in the first three innings — and three runs over seven innings, Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth for his fifth save in five opportunities, and Hideki Matsui homered to lead visiting New York to a two-game sweep of Tampa Bay.

Blue Jays 11, Orioles 3: Aaron Hill hit a three-run homer, Alex Rios and Matt Stairs each had two RBIs, and Shaun Marcum (2-0) allowed two runs and four hits in 6 2/3 innings as visiting Toronto used a season-high 16 hits to roll past Baltimore.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

PHILLIES 4, ASTROS 3: Pinch-hitter Chris Snelling led off the bottom of the ninth with a homer off Houston closer Jose Valverde (2-1), Pat Burrell tied the score at 3 with a two-run homer and Pedro Feliz capped the rally with an RBI double to lift Philadelphia.

Marlins 4, Braves 0: Scott Olsen (2-0) pitched seven innings of five-hit ball, Renyel Pinto and Kevin Gregg each pitched an inning to complete the six-hitter, and Josh Willingham hit an RBI triple and scored a run to lead host Florida over Atlanta for the Marlins' first shutout since a 4-0 victory over St. Louis on July 17.

Diamondbacks 8, Giants 2: Chris Young hit a two-run homer, his third career home run in eight at-bats off Kevin Correia (1-2), and Conor Jackson connected for the second consecutive game in support of Micah Owings (3-0), who allowed a run and five hits in six innings to lead visiting Arizona over San Francisco.

Mets 6, Nationals 0: David Wright homered and drove in five runs, Jose Reyes (strained left hamstring) returned to the lineup with four hits and Mike Pelfrey (2-0) scattered five hits over seven innings, leading host New York past struggling Washington.

Cardinals 6, Brewers 1: Braden Looper (3-0) pitched around Prince Fielder, walking him three times, while limiting the rest of Milwaukee's lineup without Ryan Braun to a run on just three hits in five innings, leading host St. Louis past Milwaukee.

Cubs 9, Reds 5: Derrek Lee hit a three-run homer, Mark DeRosa and Ryan Theriot also went deep, and host Chicago, which lost left fielder and leadoff hitter Alfonso Soriano to a strained right calf in the top of the first inning, beat Cincinnati and former manager Dusty Baker.

Padres 6, Rockies 0: Left-hander Randy Wolf pitched hitless ball until Brad Hawpe singled to center with two outs in the seventh, reliever Kevin Cameron gave up one hit in completing the shutout and Brian Giles collected his 1,000th career RBI to lead host San Diego over Colorado.

Dodgers 11, Pirates 2: Jeff Kent and Russell Martin homered, James Loney extended his season-opening hitting streak to 14 games with an RBI single, and Esteban Loaiza (1-2) allowed a run and three hits over the final five innings as host Los Angeles ended Pittsburgh's four-game winning streak.