ANAHEIM, California, Oct 7, 2007 (AFP) - The Boston Red Sox swept into American League Championship Series on Sunday, while the New York Yankees kept alive their hopes of joining them there.

David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez hit back-to-back homers and veteran ace Curt Schilling tossed seven scoreless innings as the Red Sox beat the Angels of Anaheim 9-1 to complete a 3-0 victory in the best-of-five AL first-round series.

The Yankees, Boston's bitter AL East rivals, went into their game at Yankee Stadium facing elimination at the hands of the Cleveland Indians.