Sox, Rocks and rolls

BOSTON -- Colorado Rockies, meet your match.

That incredible run in which you won 21 of 22 games and swept through the National League division series and championship series?

Very nice, but the Boston Red Sox are hardly intimidated, not after gathering their own head of steam during a three-game demolition of the Cleveland Indians, which they completed with Sunday night’s American League Championship Series-clinching 11-2 victory in Game 7 at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox blew open a one-run game with eight runs in their final two at-bats, with Dustin Pedroia driving in five of those runs with a two-run home run and a three-run double, to win their 12th AL pennant and a berth opposite Colorado in the World Series, which begins Wednesday night in Boston.

Facing elimination after falling behind, 3-1, in the series, the Red Sox outscored the Indians, 30-5, in Games 5, 6 and 7, culminating their run Sunday with five strong innings from right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka and another late-game outburst.

“We know if we play our best baseball, we can play with anyone,” said first baseman Kevin Youkilis, who hit .500 (14 for 28) in the ALCS with three home runs and seven runs batted in, capping his series with a two-run homer, a double and a single Sunday night.

“We went out there and played our game, and that’s why we won. It’s a best of seven, not best of four. People thought we were out of it. We all of us stuck together and said, you know what? Screw it, we’re going to win this on our own.”

The tide turned in Game 5 in Cleveland, when series MVP Josh Beckett pitched eight innings of five-hit ball and Boston broke open a one-run game with two runs in the seventh and three in the eighth for a 7-1 win.

“I remember sitting in Cleveland when we lost that third game and trying to find a way to turn this around,” said Pedroia, the rookie second baseman. “We worked [too] hard all year long to have our season get cut short. Nobody wanted to go home. Nobody wanted to say goodbye. So once we got that win in Cleveland and brought it back here, we started to believe.”

The Red Sox have always had a good vibe at home, and it showed over the weekend -- they followed their 12-2 Game 6 romp with Sunday’s lopsided win, which made them the sixth team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in a league championship series.

“When I came here as a visitor, there was always this Fenway magic,” reliever Mike Timlin said. “We’re comfortable here, we play well here, and we’re not afraid of anybody.”

Little seems to faze these Sox, home or away. They are 14-3 in their last 17 playoff elimination games.

“I do think that in games of a huge magnitude, our guys don’t get overwhelmed,” Manager Terry Francona said. “It doesn’t assure that you’re going to win, but it’s a good feeling. You look out there and you see Jason Varitek behind the plate, guys like Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling doing what they’re supposed to do.”

The Indians, one win away from a World Series berth, seemed rattled at times over the final three games, especially in the seventh inning Sunday.

They were trailing, 3-2, with one out when Kenny Lofton lifted a popup into shallow left field that Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo dropped for a two-base error. Franklin Gutierrez followed with a shot over the third-base bag that hit the photographer’s well and caromed back into shallow left.

Third-base coach Joel Skinner put both arms up as the speedy Lofton came into third, but it appeared Lofton would have scored easily, since left fielder Manny Ramirez had another 20 feet or so to go before he retrieved the ball.

Casey Blake, batting against reliever Hideki Okajima, grounded into an inning-ending double play, sending a surge of emotion through a crowd of 37,165.

The Red Sox rode that momentum into the bottom of the seventh, which began with Blake, the Cleveland third baseman, booting Jacoby Ellsbury’s grounder for a two-base error.

Lugo bunted Ellsbury to third, and Pedroia, a diminutive leadoff hitter with a big swing, launched a two-run homer over the Green Monster in left-center off reliever Rafael Betancourt, who had allowed one single in 6 2/3 previous ALCS innings, to give Boston a 5-2 lead.

“I don’t even remember running around the bases, to tell you the truth,” Pedroia said. “It was the biggest at-bat of my life, and I’ll never forget it.”

Cleveland threatened in the eighth with a pair of singles, but closer Jonathan Papelbon struck out Travis Haf ner, then got Victor Martinez to ground into a fielder’s choice and Ryan Garko to fly to deep right-center.

Pedroia’s three-run double and Youkilis’ two-run homer padded the lead in the eighth, Papelbon got three outs in the ninth, and the party was underway, champagne, beer and victory cigar smoke filling the Red Sox clubhouse and players returning to the field to celebrate with the fans.

“It’s like MasterCard, it’s priceless,” Lugo said. “It’s the best feeling in the world. It’s where everyone wants to be.”

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com