Jacoby Ellsbury, the rookie who hit .438 in the Series, hauled in a drive by Jamey Carroll at the left-field wall for the second out of the ninth. Seth Smith came up next, and Papelbon whipped a 94 mile-an-hour fastball past him for the final out, firing his glove to the sky in triumph.  Catcher Jason Varitek leaped into Papelbon’s arms and raised his index finger high: the Red Sox, again, were No. 1. “I’ll be dancing, but just not tonight,” said Papelbon, whose “Riverdance” routine has punctuated the postseason clinchers. “When we get back to Boston, we’re going to party hard.”  Boston has won all eight of its World Series games under Manager Terry Francona, and this sweep was nearly as emphatic as the one in 2004, when the Red Sox never trailed against the St. Louis Cardinals. This time, they trailed for a total of three and a half innings in Game 2.  Their sweep was the first in 80 years to feature victories by four different starting pitchers. The last team to do it? The 1927 Yankees.  That was the Yankees’ second championship with Babe Ruth, whose sale by the Red Sox was said to curse the team until 2004, when Boston upended the Yankees in the championship series en route to the title.  This time, the Red Sox did not even have to go through the Bronx to win. After taking the wild card three times in this decade, they finished in first place in the American League East and the Yankees were bounced in the first round. “If someone wants to compare us to the Yankees based on winning and results, that’s an incredible standard,” Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein said. “If they want to compare us to the Yankees in how we do things, that’s a little off-base.”  Like the Yankees, though, the Red Sox figure to be built on young pitching for years to come. Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield are at the end of their contracts, but Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Lester are all under 28 years old, and the rookie Clay Buchholz, who threw a no-hitter in September, was not even on the postseason roster.  Boston’s biggest off-season decision in the lineup is whether to re-sign Lowell, who called himself a throw-in in the deal that brought Beckett to Boston two years ago. If Lowell leaves, there is always the chance the Red Sox could pursue Alex Rodriguez, who decided Sunday to opt out of his contract and become a free agent.  But the fans have voiced their preference. Hundreds stayed in the stands behind the dugout after Game 4, cheering the Red Sox as they cavorted on the field. When they spotted Lowell, they chanted, “Re-sign Lowell!” over and over. Later, they gave an addendum: “Don’t Sign A-Rod!”  “I’ve never hid the fact that I enjoy playing here in Boston,” said Lowell, who could be a target of the Yankees, his original team. “I have great teammates, a great manager, great coaches, so we’ll see what happens.”  Tom Werner, the Red Sox chairman, credited Francona for the victory and said this team is even better equipped for a long run of success than the 2004 team.  “We were very frustrated a year ago, because we didn’t make it to the postseason,” Werner said. “We all sat down and said we’re going to do what it takes, and it started with signing Matsuzaka and Okajima, and then bringing up Ellsbury and Pedroia.  “We’re a young team, and our team performed — not just the $10 and $15 million players, but the young players, too. Look at what Jon Lester went through. Jon Lester is going to be with us for a long time.”  Lester fought his way back after off-season treatment for lymphoma, and he was not the only survivor in the Game 4 matchup. Colorado’s Aaron Cook once missed almost a year with blood clots in both lungs.  More recently, Cook had been held back by a strained oblique muscle, and his last start was Aug. 10. No pitcher in 52 years had as long a layoff between starts before starting in a World Series.  Cook is a sinkerballer, and nine of his first 10 outs came on grounders. But he spent almost all of that time trailing, because the Red Sox grabbed a lead five pitches into the game.  Ellsbury lined Cook’s second pitch into the left-field corner for a double, and he scored on a one-out single to right by David Ortiz. Thought to be a liability in the field, Ortiz helped save a run the next inning by scooping a throw from shortstop with a flourish.  Colorado stranded two in the second, and another in the third, when Lester struck out Troy Tulowitzki on a slider and Matt Holliday on a 93 mile-an-hour fastball. He pumped his fist at his side as he strode off the mound.  The Red Sox gave Lester another run in the fifth, when Lowell led off with a double to left center and slid home, headfirst, on a single by Varitek. Cook avoided worse damage, and when he fanned Ellsbury to end the inning, he became the first Rockies starter to last five innings in the World Series.  Cook bunted for a single in the bottom of that inning and followed with a 1-2-3 sixth. But after Lowell’s leadoff homer in the seventh, he gave way to the bullpen after 70 pitches. It was a solid effort, but not as strong as Lester’s.  Lester, who went 4-0 down the stretch, was making his first postseason start; he replaced Wakefield, who missed the Series with a shoulder injury. He had no more strikeouts after Holliday in the third, but the bunt single by Cook was the only other hit he allowed.  “I’m delighted for him,” said Lowell, who had testicular cancer in 1999. “He’s had to overcome some obstacles, including not even pitching in a while, and he did a great job.”  Francona removed Lester after a two-out walk in the sixth, and Manny Delcarmen, another homegrown pitcher, struck out Ryan Spilborghs to end the inning. Brad Hawpe homered off Delcarmen in the seventh to cut Boston’s lead to 3-1, but Bobby Kielty lined Brian Fuentes’s first pitch in the eighth over the left-field fence to restore the three-run lead.  Francona praised Kielty for his professionalism and said Delcarmen was “growing up right in front of our eyes.” The blend of youth and veterans, he said, was part of what made this team special.  “You watch the veterans act like little kids, and then you see the young kids starting to act like veterans,” Francona said. “It’s gratifying.”  Both Boston championships have been clinched away from Fenway Park, where “Sweet Caroline” plays in the eighth inning of every game. Even without that song in the background here, this much was obvious: for the Red Sox, a team once defined by a curse, good times never seemed so good.  A version of this article appears in print on , on Page D6 of the New York edition with the headline: Red Sox Sweep to 2nd World Series Title in 4 Years. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
With a win over the Colorado Rockies, the Boston Red Sox become the first team to win two championships since 2000.