BOSTON - Boston outfielder Gabe Kapler has just one request: Let the Red Sox enjoy their sweep of the Anaheim Angels for a little while before talking about the New York Yankees.

"I know that it's sexy," Kapler said after Boston beat Anaheim 8-6 on David Ortiz's 10th-inning homer to advance to the AL championship series for the second straight year. "But I just don't understand why you would cut short a magical, magnificent night to go there."

Johnny Damon got three hits, Ortiz had four, and Boston rode starter Bronson Arroyo to a five-run lead after six innings. But Vladimir Guerrero hit a grand slam off Mike Timlin to tie it 6-all in the seventh and send the game to extra innings.

Derek Lowe, bounced from the playoff rotation after a horrible September, got out of a first-and-third jam in the top of the 10th and earned the win. Losing pitcher Francisco Rodriguez gave up Damon's leadoff single in the bottom half; two outs later, Angels manager Mike Scioscia brought in Game 1 starter Jarrod Washburn for the lefty-lefty matchup.

Ortiz hit the first pitch over the Green Monster to send the Fenway Park crowd - so quiet since Guerrero's homer - into pandemonium. In the Boston clubhouse, with the lockers covered with plastic, a soaking of beer and champagne mixed with the smoke from victory cigars completed the frat house feel.

With the sweep - just the second in their postseason history - the Red Sox have three days off before starting the ALCS in New York or Minnesota on Tuesday night.

"We'll need a few days after tonight," said outfielder Johnny Damon, who proclaimed the team a band of "idiots" trying to rewrite the record book and ignore Boston's miserable baseball history. "It could have been different, but now we get to relax for a couple of days."

The Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 8-4 later Friday to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. But the Red Sox said they don't care who they play in the next round.

"You don't get an extra ring for going through Yankee Stadium," first baseman Kevin Millar said. "That's all we're playing for."

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. This week, Damon declared they were down on "Cowboy Up" and instead were just "idiots" with bad hair and slovenly uniforms who were out for fun on the field.

"We're all idiots here," Ortiz said. "We all have fun. We all hug, kiss, grab, whatever."

Ortiz, Boston's happy-go-lucky MVP contender - one of two, with Manny 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 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.

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 3 1-3 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 run of 2002 despite a free-agent spending spree that brought Guerrero, Bartolo Colon, Kelvim Escobar and Jose Guillen.

Troy Glaus also homered for the Angels, who will get no sympathy from Boston, which has been hoping to repeat its magical year of 1918 ever since Babe Ruth was shipped to the Yankees.

Should the Yankees advance, it would give the Red Sox a chance for revenge against the team that has won 26 World Series since Boston last won it all. The Yankees knocked the Red Sox out of the ALCS last year when Pedro Martinez couldn't hold a three-run lead in the eighth inning of Game 7, and Aaron Boone homered in the 11th to send New York to the World Series.

Either the Yankees or Twins will have to face co-aces Curt Schilling and Martinez in Games 1 and 2 of the ALCS. But maybe they should worry about Arroyo.

The 27-year-old Pittsburgh Pirates castoff pitched six innings of three-hit ball and was given a thunderous ovation from the sold-out crowd when he left after walking the leadoff batter with a 6-1 lead in the seventh.

Yankees 8, Twins 4

MINNEAPOLIS - Kevin Brown threw six strong innings to lead the Yankees past the frustrated Minnesota Twins 8-4 for a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five AL playoff series.

Hoping to save Minnesota's season, ace Johan Santana will start on three days' rest Saturday against Javier Vazquez.

Bernie Williams extended a major league record by hitting his 20th postseason homer, a two-run shot off Carlos Silva that put the Yankees up 5-1 in the sixth.

Jeter went 3-for-5 and Hideki Matsui also homered for New York - now just one win away from a bitter rematch with the rival Boston Red Sox in the AL championship series.