updated 9:38 a.m. ET Oct. 21, 2004

NEW YORK - He was the forgotten man in the Boston Red Sox rotation, pitching only because everyone else was too tired.

But Derek Lowe gave Boston one of its best outings of the playoffs on Wednesday night, leading the Red Sox to a 10-3 victory over the New York Yankees and putting them in their first World Series since 1986.

“We’re all competitors,” he said. “When someone tells you that you really can’t do something that you think you can, given an opportunity, you want to go out there and prove to yourself that you can do it.”

Lowe held the Yankees to one run on one hit in six innings. He struck out three and walked one, just three days after throwing 88 pitches in Game 4.

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“What ’D’ gave us was above and beyond the call of duty,” manager Terry Francona said.

A former 21-game winner with a no-hitter to his credit, Lowe was Boston’s third starter before struggling in the regular season and getting bounced from the playoff rotation.

When the injury to Curt Schilling rippled through the pitching staff, Lowe was given the Game 4 start. With Boston facing elimination, he held the Yankees to three runs on six hits in 5 1-3 innings to start the Red Sox on their unprecedented four-game winning streak.

“There was a lot in this series for me personally, because the decision to put me in the bullpen was correct because I pitched poorly down the stretch,” he said. “I was able to pitch three games against Anaheim and New York and win two of them. But Game 4 we really didn’t have anything to lose. Tonight was a different story because ... games like this can make or break your career.”

Lowe, who is eligible for free agency in the offseason, had been headed for a big pay cut before redeeming himself in the series. The Red Sox are not expected to try to re-sign him.

“A lot of people in Boston have been talking about this whole free agency thing and saying, ’Is this going to be your last game,”’ he said. “You know, luckily, it’s not going to be.”

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