New faces reside in old home

JUPITER, Fla. -- Mike Lowell returned to his former spring home yesterday and barely recognized anyone. The Florida Marlins have undergone a complete face lift since winning the 2003 World Series and will do well to win 75 games this year.

Lowell flied to right, grounded to short, and flied to left before coming out of the game, a particularly ugly 12-1 loss to the Marlins. Florida scored at least one run in every inning (except the ninth, when they didn't bat).

''I didn't recognize many people," said Lowell. ''Everyone I played with -- except a handful of guys -- is gone. It's going to be a tough thing for the veterans who are still here because they did get a taste of winning for a while."

Lowell said he was treated well by the fans (8,163).

''There were more Red Sox fans here than Marlins fans," he noted. ''I heard stuff like, 'Now you've got a real uniform on.' It was all good. The Marlins fans treated me good here and today was nice. But it's spring training.

''It was a little weird coming back. This is a change for me, but it's a change I'm happy with. Boston has such a passion for baseball and the whole atmosphere is something I'm very excited about."

Lowell's former and present teammate, Alex González, also made the trip and went 0 for 3 before he was replaced by Jed Lowrie. Gonzalez left his No. 11 jersey in Fort Myers and wore No. 93.

''We're really pleased with both of them," Sox manager Terry Francona said of Lowell and González. ''They catch the ball. Offensively, it's been up and down with both, and if they can just get in the middle -- that's what we're shooting for. We don't need a career year out of Mike. We just need him to be himself."

Meanwhile, Hanley Ramírez, the former Sox prospect who was shipped to the Marlins in the deal that brought Lowell and righthander Josh Beckett to Boston, started at shortstop and went 3 for 3 and scored three runs.

Ramírez is competing for the Marlins' starting job with Robert Andino. Ramírez singled to left in the first and scored, then hit a booming triple to center in the third and scored again. In the fifth, he singled to right and came home on a two-run homer by Dan Uggla off Matt Ginter.

''I'm excited for him, he's a great kid," Francona said of Ramírez. ''Florida got great prospects from us, but we like what we got back."

''That was some kind of ugly," Sox first base coach Bill Haselman noted after the Sox' brutal loss. The Sox managed only three hits, committed three errors, and outfielders had trouble with the high sky all day. ''It was more than that," said Francona. ''We weren't throwing into the sun." . . . Righthander David Pauley started for the Sox and gave up three earned runs and five hits in three innings. Five of Boston's first nine preseason games have been started by pitchers who are 25 or younger. Bronson Arroyo gets the nod today against the Dodgers . . . Kevin Youkilis doubled in the second and was hit just above the right elbow by a pitch in the fourth. He said he was fine . . . Francona said Keith Foulke is eager for game action and indicated that the rehabbing closer might pitch to some hitters at the Sox minor league complex tomorrow or Saturday. Same for David Wells. The Sox manager said he tried to call David Ortiz after Big Papi's two-homer game in the World Baseball Classic Tuesday. ''I couldn't get through," said Francona. ''I'm sure half of the country was calling him."

Francona experimented with a fake chewing tobacco yesterday. ''It looks like Silly Putty," said Francona. ''I'm sure I'll throw up if I swallow any. My dad had a spittoon in every room in our house growing up. There was juice splattered all over the car. You'd go into the bathroom and there'd be a spittoon." . . . Former pitcher Jim Kaat attended yesterday's game. Kaat surrendered hits to both Terry and Tito Francona. . . . Tommy Hutton, a broadcaster with the Marlins, is a neighbor of Jeff Reardon and said the ex-Sox pitcher was doing better after his December arrest for attempting to rob a jewelry store in Florida . . . The Sox watched ''Walk the Line" on the 140-mile bus trip across the state. A handful of players and the coaching staff planned to overnight in Port St. Lucie. The veteran infielders were allowed to return to Fort Myers and today Manny Ramírez, Coco Crisp, Trot Nixon, and J.T. Snow will make the trip to Vero Beach from Fort Myers . . . Faces in the crowd at Roger Dean: Dominic DiMaggio; Rich Gale; Twins souvenir shop owner Arthur D'Angelo; pro golfer Jason Caron, a product of Dennis-Yarmouth High School; Sox adviser Jeremy Kapstein . . . Malden's Matt Roebuck, former Sox employee and UMass-Amherst grad, has taken over as director of media relations for the Marlins . . . Brett Moldoff, a senior at UMass from Sharon, is working for the Marlins and Cardinals in the public relations department at Roger Dean Stadium . . . The Red Sox play the Twins at home Sunday afternoon. Boston trails the city series, 2-0, and another loss means the Twins get to keep the coveted Mayor's Cup for another year. The Twins have the Cup sitting proudly on a table at the clubhouse entrance . . . James Taylor will perform at Edison College in Fort Myers tonight and several of the Sox are expected to attend . . . Twenty-five days until Opening Day.