Projo Sox Blog

BOSTON -- Mike Lowell was in the lineup Thursday night after missing the last three games after getting a shot to relieve pain and pressure in his hip. Lowell said he felt strong and was looking forward to playing at least one more time over the weekend, in the hope of keeping his batting eye sharp entering the postseason.

"Myself and every other position player want to feel like there's a rhythm at the plate," Lowell said. "We're going to at least have two days off even if we play the early series. You want to establish a rhythm and establish a good routine at the plate. For me, I just want to be able to see the ball."

With Victor Martinez expected to do most of the catching during the Division Series, Lowell could see a lot of action at third base, so his health is suddenly of prime concern.

"The biggest thing is, a lot of pressure [is] released once they take the fluid out, so that helps me. I feel a lot better pretty quickly. More range of motion. All that comforting feeling," Lowell said.

Despite the lingering injury, Lowell came into the night hitting .290 with 17 home runs and 75 RBI. Lowell played 44 of the season's first 45 games on his surgically repaired hip, a workload that clearly took its toll over the course of the season. Manager Terry Francona owned up to pushing Lowell too hard to start the year.

"I think -- and I was pretty open about it -- I probably played him too much at the beginning of the year," said Francona. "This is a guy that likes to play. He's willing to play. We had some situations where, we were going a lot of games where on days we'd like to give him off, we couldn't. But it was probably a mistake on my part. I think owned up to that. I probably didn't use the best judgment, and it didn't help his situation."

Lowell has gotten lots of rest in the second half, with Youkilis playing third base when Martinez plays first. At this point, though, a little extra rest doesn't do much for Lowell, so there's no reason for him to sit until the end of the season.

"Help me? I think the offseason will help me," he said. "I don't think three days does anything. I think the biggest pain is just traveling six hours [to Anaheim]. Everyone is excited for the postseason. I don't care if we have to fly 10 hours."

-- DANIEL BARBARISI

 Tags  Boston Red Sox Dan Barbarisi Mike Lowell Terry Francona Victor Martinez

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