Both Anaheim and Boston left runners stranded in the first two innings of Game 3 but neither team scored. Mark Bellhorn led off the bottom of the third with a walk and proceeded to third when David Ortiz hit a double off the Green Monster. Trot Nixon then hit a low line drive into right field for a single, scoring Bellhorn and moving Ortiz to third. Kevin Millar hit into a ground out, but Ortiz was able to score and Nixon moved safely to second, where he remained when the inning ended. Troy Glaus narrowed the Red Sox's lead to 2-1 with a solo homer over the Green Monster in the top of the fourth.

Bill Mueller hit a ground ball past the glove of Chone Figgins and into right field, allowing him to reach first base to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Figgins was charged with an error on the play. Johnny Damon then dropped a fly ball into shallow left field, giving Boston runners at first and second. Kelvim Escobar then issued another walk to Bellhorn, loading the bases for Manny Ramirez. Ramirez flew out to deep left field, scoring Mueller and prompting the Angels to send Scott Shields to relieve Escobar. After the pitching change, Ortiz hit a fly ball to deep right for a double that scored Damon and moved Bellhorn to third. Shields then intentionally walked Nixon, loading the bases for Millar. Millar hit a grounder to David Eckstein, who bobbled the ball before tossing it to third in a futile attempt to get the force on Ortiz; Bellhorn scored on the play. Jason Varitek hit into a double play, sending the Red Sox into the fifth with a 5-1 lead over Anaheim.

During the top of the fifth, ESPN cornered Steven Tyler for an interview in the stands. Evidently, the lead singer of Aerosmith will be performing the national anthem if Boston reaches the World Series. Dallas McPherson hit a soft single down the third base line, but Varitek scrambled forward to recover the ball and throw him out at first. Millar dropped the ball when transferring it from his glove after the play, however the umpire seemed fully convinced he had full possession of the ball when making the out. The Red Sox put together a string of singles to add another run to their lead in the bottom of the fifth, causing the Angels to send Brendan Donnelly out to relieve Shields.

Boston lifted Bronson Arroyo after he issued a lead off walk to Jeff DaVanon in the top of the seventh. During his six innings on the mound, Arroyo struck out seven while allowing only two walks and three hits, including the solo home run to Glaus that accounted for Anaheim's only run. Mike Myers relieved Arroyo, walked Jose Molina, and was replaced by Mike Timlin. Pinch-hitting for Adam Riggs, Curtis Pride popped out to short, triggering the infield fly rule. David Eckstein then dropped a fly ball into right field for a single, loading the bases. Figgins struck out, but Darin Erstad worked Timlin for a walk that drove in DaVanon and brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Vladimir Guerrero. The Fenway crowd watched as Guerrero hit a grand slam over the right field wall, tying the game at 6. Changing pitchers for the third time in the course of the seventh, the Red Sox replaced Timlin with Alan Embree, who closed out the inning without allowing any additional damage. Donnelly went one-two-three through Boston order in the bottom of the inning.

When Embree issued a walk to DaVanon in the top of the eighth, the Red Sox dispatched Keith Foulke to procure the final two outs of the inning. Francisco Rodriguez relieved Donnelly prior to the bottom of the eighth. Ortiz singled and Nixon walked, but Boston was unable to score. With one out in the top of the ninth, the Angels loaded the bases but Foulke escaped the jam by striking out Garret Anderson and Glaus. By contrast, Rodriguez prevented Boston from reaching base in the ninth.

Anaheim was unable to score off of Derek Lowe, who relieved Foulke prior to the tenth, and sent Rodriguez back out to the mound in the bottom of the inning. Unaccustomed to pitching more than two innings at a time, Rodriguez gave up a lead-off single to Damon. However, the Angels were able to throw out Damon when Bellhorn bunted down the third base line and Rodriguez successfully struck out Ramirez. Troy Percival had not pitched in the series and likely should have taken over from Rodriguez prior to the start of the inning, but when faced with the decision of leaving a tired Rodriguez in to face Ortiz or going to his pen, Manager Mike Scioscia chose to bring in the only lefty on his staff, starter Jarrod Washburn. Given starters normally go through a longer warm-up routine than relievers, Washburn probably wasn't even loose when he took the mound. Ortiz sent his first pitch into the seats on top of the Green Monster to win the game and sweep the series for the Red Sox.