ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Rookie Dustin Pedroia hit a tiebreaking home run, Mike Lowell went 4-for-4 with three doubles and a pair of RBIs and the Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 9-6 on Wednesday night to avoid a three-game sweep.

The victory, coupled with the Yankees’ 15-4 loss at Toronto, increased Boston’s lead over New York to six games in the AL East. The Angels’ lead over Seattle in the AL West shrunk to three games following the Mariners’ 8-4 win at Baltimore.

One night after Gary Matthews Jr. robbed Boston’s Coco Crisp of a home run, Angels left fielder Garret Anderson nearly did the same to Pedroia in the seventh inning. But the ball glanced off Anderson’s glove as he made a leaping attempt in front of the bullpen, and went over the fence to give the Red Sox a 7-6 lead. Pedroia’s fifth homer came on a 1-1 pitch from Justin Speier (1-3).

Boston tacked on two more in the eighth. Julio Lugo hit a sacrifice fly after Scot Shields made an errant pickoff throw to second base trying to get Crisp, and Brandon Moss scored on Shields’ wild pitch.

Hideki Okajima (3-0) pitched 1 1-3 hitless innings for the victory. The rookie left-hander, who stuck out Orlando Cabrera in the sixth with the potential go-ahead run at third, has stranded 18 of his 19 inherited runners.

Eric Gagne pitched a scoreless eighth and Jonathan Papelbon a perfect ninth for his 26th save in 28 attempts.

Red Sox DH David Ortiz sat out because of a troublesome left shoulder – the same one he injured trying to stretch a single into a double on July 20 against the White Sox at Fenway Park.

Boston starter Jon Lester gave up five runs, eight hits and three walks over 3 1-3 innings in the shortest of his 19 big league starts. The left-hander was on the same mound where he made his final start of last season, when he fought off back problems to beat the Angels 5-4 on Aug. 23 and run his record to 7-2.

Just nine days after that game, Lester was diagnosed with lymphoma and underwent chemotherapy before returning to the rotation July 23 with a 6-2 win at Cleveland. All four starts of his inspiring comeback have been on the road. He’ll finally pitch at Fenway next Tuesday against Tampa Bay.

The Red Sox got Lester off the hook in the fifth, grabbing a 5-4 lead with a sacrifice fly by Kevin Youkilis and a two-out RBI single by Lowell that chased Angels starter Dustin Moseley. But the Angels pulled even in the bottom half on a run-scoring groundout by Matthews.

Moseley gave up six runs and 10 hits over 4 2-3 innings in his third straight start for the injured Bartolo Colon.

Trailing 3-0, the Red Sox rallied with four runs on five hits in the fourth before Moseley could record an out. Manny Ramirez doubled to left-center to drive in two, then J.D. Drew and Lowell followed with RBI doubles.

The Angels went ahead 5-4 in the bottom half with a two-run double by Chone Figgins that chased Lester.

Notes: Drew started in CF for the first time since July 3, 2005 – a day he won’t soon forget. He was playing for the Dodgers that night, filling in for an injured Milton Bradley, when a fastball from Brad Halsey of the Arizona Diamondbacks broke his left wrist and ended his season. … Crisp, who was told he’d have Wednesday off, came in as a defensive replacement in the seventh as Drew shifted to his normal RF spot. … Colon, sidelined since July 23 because of soreness in his elbow, is scheduled to throw off a mound on Friday for the first time since the injury. … Lowell leads Boston with 77 RBIs, just three fewer than he had all last season in 573 at-bats. … Pedroia made his big league debut at Angel Stadium last Aug. 22.