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Starting pitcher Jake Westbrook of the Cleveland Indians allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings leading Cleveland to a 4-2 win over the Red Sox in Game 3 of the ALCS.

Westbrook then spent seven weeks on the disabled list with a side injury and didn’t find his groove until August, when he went 4-1 with a 1.90 ERA. But even then, Westbrook, who lost to the Red Sox on July 23, wasn’t expected to shut down Boston.

Westbrook was in complete control until J.D. Drew singled to center in the seventh. Varitek followed with his homer, bringing the Red Sox to 4-2.

The homer ended Boston’s 13-inning scoreless streak, a drought that began in the sixth inning of Game 2.

Westbrook struck out Coco Crisp but when Julio Lugo beat out an infield single, Wedge pulled his gutty starter, who received a thunderous ovation from the towel-waving crowd of 44,402 as he left.

Lofton, a 40-year-old who could still pass as a twentysomething, gave the Indians a 2-0 lead in the second with his seventh career postseason homer.

Ryan Garko singled with one out, and with two down, Lofton, traded back for his third stint with the Indians in July, turned on Matsuzaka’s first pitch and sent it on a low trajectory and barely over the right-field wall.

As Indians fans danced their way toward the exits following the game, Lofton was asked if he felt 40.

“No,” he said. “I feel 25.”

He’s playing like a young man, and the Indians, despite a lack of postseason experience, are acting as if they’ve been doing this for years.

“These guys are going out and playing team ball and it’s unbelievable,” Lofton said.

The Red Sox ran themselves out of a potential scoring opportunity in the fourth.

Ortiz ended an 0-for-8 drought vs. Westbrook with an opposite-field double off the wall in left, but then was struck on the leg when he inexplicably broke for third on a hard-hit grounder by Ramirez.

In addition to carrying light jackets for the chill, Indians fans received packets of bug-repellant wipes to combat the midges who pestered the Yanks in the opening round.

However, there wasn’t anything to keep the Red Sox from buzzing the bases early on.

In the second inning, Boston loaded them on a walk, single and error by first baseman Garko, a former catcher who botched an easy grounder. But Westbrook got Varitek to fly to left and then escaped trouble by getting Crisp to hit into an inning-ending double play.

“That was probably the ballgame right there,” Blake said.

Westbrook gave up a one-out walk to Kevin Youkilis in the first, but got Ortiz to hit a hard grounder into the shift toward second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera. The converted shortstop picked it cleanly and fired it to second, where third baseman Blake turned the unconventional 4-5-3 double play with a throw to Garko, who made a nice backhanded stab of the relay.

“That’s about as good a double play as you’ll see,” Wedge said.

Notes: Varitek’s 10th career postseason homer tied him with Hall of Famer Johnny Bench and Javy Lopez for the most by a catcher. ... The Red Sox have hit into seven double plays in three games. ... Boston is appearing in its third championship series in five years, tying the best span (also 1986-1990) in club history. The Red Sox have appeared in the ALCS eight times. Only the New York Yankees (12), of course, Oakland (11) and Baltimore (9) have more trips.

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