Lowe down for count after Tejada's home run

When Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada smacked Derek Lowe's 2-and-2 delivery over the left-field wall in the fifth inning last night for a three-run home run, Lowe stared at the ground and nodded. Up to that point, he had staged a battle with Orioles hitters that went back-and-forth through four innings -- one that appeared primed to go much longer.

The nod was Lowe's way of saying hats off to Tejada. Lowe figured the pitch was sound enough to end up in catcher Jason Varitek's glove, and not on a nearby secondary road. At the time, Lowe had no idea he would become the second Red Sox starter in as many nights to leave the game after throwing 99 pitches.

"I felt fine coming off a game where I didn't throw a lot of pitches," said Lowe, who had his shortest outing in seven seasons in his last start, a one-inning-plus debacle against the Yankees in the Bronx last Saturday.

Last night, Lowe was better, but surrendered four earned runs on nine hits, walking one and striking out four in five innings. He has gone three consecutive starts without a victory, although he pitched well (7 innings, 2 runs) in a 2-0 loss at Seattle Sept. 12.

Lowe said he felt fine -- prior to the Tejada home run.

"For the most part, there was one hard-hit ball to that point, and it was [Javy] Lopez on a good pitch, and you have to just tip your hat," said Lowe, referring to a one-out triple by the designated hitter in the fourth inning.

It was the only hit Lowe gave up in the inning, and he stranded Lopez by striking out center fielder Larry Bigbie and getting catcher Geronimo Gil to ground to third. Prior to the fourth, the Orioles got to Lowe for single runs in the first and third innings.

But while the battle waged, the pitch count increased.

"On Saturday, he didn't really get on track. But [last night], when you're at 100 pitches or near that at five [innings], they're making you work harder than you're supposed to," said manager Terry Francona. "And with hitters like Tejada, when they see enough pitches, even when you make a good pitch, they can do something with it."

On Wednesday night, Bronson Arroyo threw 99 pitches in a game the Red Sox won on a walkoff home run in the 12th inning.

Asked whether the recent short outings of his starters has him concerned, Francona said, "Well, sometimes, it's mother nature's way of saying maybe guys need to back off a little bit. Hopefully, that's the case. They have a shorter outing or two and maybe they bounce back and have a little life in their arm and have more command."

Lowe said he felt confident about how he mixed up his pitches. "I felt good about the jams we did get out of, the first inning with the double play, striking out Bigbie in the fourth, but a lot of times, it comes down to one or two pitches and [last night] it pretty much came down to one."

Entering the contest, Tejada had a .308 average against Lowe with a home run and two RBIs. Lowe said he has had success against Tejada throwing sliders and his aim was to deliver the pitch inside.

"The one before was inside, the [home run pitch] I really didn't look where it was. But you have to give him credit. It was disappointing because even though there were guys on base, the big inning didn't look as if it was going to happen. Their pitcher [starter Daniel Cabrera] looked as if he had settled down and it looked as if it would be a close game."

Lowe said he had no idea how many pitches he had thrown and thought he was going to return for the sixth inning, "but obviously they felt otherwise."