Red Sox 4, Tigers 3: Mike Napoli went 3-for-4 and hit a mammoth homer to help visiting Boston slide past Detroit and take a 3-2 lead in the American League Championship Series.

David Ross had two hits and an RBI and Jacoby Ellsbury also drove in a run for the Red Sox, who are one victory away from returning to the World Series for the first time since 2007. Game 6 is Saturday in Boston.

Jon Lester (1-1) allowed two runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings while outdueling Anibal Sanchez (1-1), who gave up four runs (three earned) and nine hits in six innings. Koji Uehara retired the final five batters in order in a 27-pitch effort for his second save of the series and fourth in the postseason.

Napoli smashed a leadoff homer 460 feet over the center-field fence in the second, Ross smacked a run-scoring double and Ellsbury singled home a run later in the inning. Napoli scored on Sanchez’s wild pitch in the third to give Boston a 4-0 lead.

Miguel Cabrera got the Tigers on the board in the fifth with an RBI single and Brayan Pena delivered a run-scoring single in the sixth. Boston’s Junichi Tazawa induced Cabrera to bounce into a double play in the seventh, but a run scored to make it 4-3.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Detroit C Alex Avila (knee) departed in the fourth inning due to a second-inning collision at the plate in which Boston’s David Ross crashed into him while being tagged out. … Boston’s 21-year-old Xander Bogaerts drew the start over slumping 3B Will Middlebrooks and went 1-for-3 with a walk. He is the youngest player to start an ALCS game since Oakland’s Claudell Washington (20 in 1974). … Tigers 1B Prince Fielder failed to drive in a run for the 17th consecutive postseason game.