DENVER — Mile high or sea level, these Boston Red Sox can't be stopped.

The Red Sox made Coors Field their own pinball palace, spraying balls to every part of the park and moving within one win of another World Series sweep.

On a night when rookies ruled, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia sparked the Red Sox from the top of the order, Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched shutout ball into the sixth inning and Boston beat Colorado, 10-5, yesterday for a 3-0 Series lead.

Still, the Red Sox weren't quite ready to celebrate.

"We don't want to eat the cake before your birthday," Manny Ramirez said.

Ellsbury became the first rookie in 61 years with four hits in a Series game, getting three of Boston's seven doubles. Pedroia had three hits, including a bunt single that helped spark a six-run third against Josh Fogg, who allowed 12 of 19 batters to reach.

Colorado was down 6-0 in the third and seemingly out but came back with two runs in the sixth. The Rockies then closed to 6-5 when Matt Holliday hit a three-run homer in the seventh on Hideki Okajima's first pitch.

"It looked like we were hanging on for dear life," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.

But the Rockies' chance to get back into the World Series vanished into Coors Field's thin air.

Ellsbury lofted an RBI double down the right-field line off Brian Fuentes in the eighth that just eluded Brad Hawpe's attempt at a sliding, backhand catch, and Pedroia followed with a two-run double to right that made it 9-5. Jason Varitek added a sacrifice fly in the ninth of a game that took 4 hours, 19 minutes — the longest nine-inning game in Series history.

"We got a little comfortable," Ellsbury said. "It was big to respond after their big inning."

It was a night that resembled Coors' pre-humidifier days, when it was baseball's premier launching pad.

"With their offense, no lead is safe," Pedroia said.

On Oct. 27 three years ago at old Busch Stadium, the Red Sox completed a sweep of St. Louis for their first World Series title in 86 years. Having won seven straight Series games for the first time in franchise history, Boston will try for its seventh championship today. Jon Lester starts for the Red Sox against Aaron Cook.

The 22 previous teams that took a 3-0 World Series lead all went on to win, 19 with sweeps.

"It looks like we're in groundbreaking territory," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said.

If the Rockies are the National League's best, the senior circuit has a lot of catching up to do. Maybe it is the rust of a record eight-day layoff for the Rockies, or maybe the Red Sox really are a league above.

Colorado has been outscored 25-7 and is batting .222. Boston's batters have been bruisers, hitting .352 in the Series with 16 doubles. The Rockies were the talk of baseball with 21 wins in 22 games coming into the Series, but they've gone into reverse, looking more like the fourth-place team they were in mid-September.

"After 21 of 22, four games doesn't seem like a whole lot," Fuentes said.

Boston has won six straight since falling behind Cleveland 3-1 in the AL Championship Series. While the Yankees owned the 20th century, the Red Sox are one win from becoming the first team to win two titles in the 21st.

"We have to continue our focus the same way," Varitek said.