Sox take 10th straight from Jays; Lowe wins 12th

BOSTON (AP) -- Derek Lowe had a great first half, and is excited heading into the All-Star break.

	Nomar Garciaparra Shortstop Boston Red Sox Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM HR RBI R SB AVG 77 11 64 52 4 .318

A candidate to start for the American League next week, Lowe got his 12th victory as the Boston Red Sox defeated Toronto 9-5 Thursday for their first five-game sweep in 12 years.

Lowe (12-4) allowed five runs -- four earned -- and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings. His ERA rose from 2.18 to 2.36.

''If it happens, it happens,'' Lowe said. ''You know you're going to the game. You'll find out in the next two days, I would think. I've done all I can do. I can't pitch anymore.''

Lowe failed as a closer last April and lost his job to Ugueth Urbina -- a fellow All-Star. He pitched a no-hitter in just his fifth start, beating Tampa Bay 10-0 on April 27 for the first no-hitter in Fenway Park in 37 years. That came just three weeks after he nearly no-hit Baltimore on April 6 in his first start of the season.

''It's been enjoyable,'' said Lowe, who had lost his previous two starts. ''The last three starts haven't been exactly what you want going into the All-Star break. I'm really going to enjoy the next six days.''

Nomar Garciaparra homered and drove in four runs, and Trot Nixon hit a solo homer and drove in three runs. The Red Sox have won 10 straight against the Blue Jays since losing on opening day and has won 22 of its last 30 games against Toronto.

Boston had not swept a five-game series since Aug. 25-28, 1989, against Detroit.

''It's hard to sweep no matter who you're playing,'' Red Sox manager Grady Little said. ''We had some balls fall in our direction the last four days.''

Boston wasted a 4-0 lead, then went ahead 6-4 in the sixth on Jose Offerman's RBI single off Felix Heredia (0-2) and Garciaparra's sacrifice fly.

Lowe threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the seventh on what would have been an inning-ending strikeout by Shannon Stewart.

''I've seen Lowe with better stuff, but he battled out there today,'' Blue Jays manager Carlos Tosca said.

Nixon homered in the bottom half, and Garciaparra homered in the eighth off Kelvim Escobar, a drive that hooked around the right-field foul pole.

Nixon had a two-run single in the second inning, just his seventh and eighth RBI in his last 56 at-bats.

Shortstop Dave Berg's error in the third led to a pair of unearned runs by the Red Sox. Garciaparra's team-high 28th double drove in Johnny Damon to make it 3-0, and Pete Walker walked Jason Varitek with the bases loaded. later in the inning.

Toronto tied it in the fourth on Vernon Wells' RBI single, Josh Phelps' two-run double off the Green Monster and Joe Lawrence's RBI grounder. They were the first major league RBIs for Phelps.

Game notes
Garciaparra made two outstanding defensive plays in the second and third innings when he ranged from shortstop far behind second to throw out Ken Huckaby and Joe Lawrence. ... Lou Merloni left in the fifth because of right ankle soreness and is day to day. ... The Blue Jays have been swept seven times this season.