It's thumbs down as Lowell placed on DL

Mike Lowell pretty much knew he was headed for the 15-day disabled list when he woke up yesterday morning and still couldn't move his left thumb.

"But I'm encouraged by the MRI," he said after last night's 12-6 Red Sox win over the Tigers, "because it's not a complete tear of anything, which would have caused me to miss significant time."

Lowell, who strained a ligament after rolling over on his glove hand while making a stop of Ivan Rodriguez's leadoff ground ball Wednesday night, becomes the first Sox regular to go on the disabled list in more than a year. The Sox recalled infielder Jed Lowrie from Triple A Pawtucket to take the roster spot of the 34-year-old third baseman. Lowrie, who played for the PawSox in the afternoon, arrived at Fenway Park 20 minutes before last night's first pitch, according to club spokesman John Blake.

Determining how much time he will miss, Lowell said, will require the swelling to go down, but the injury is worse than the thumb injury he sustained last season, which caused him to miss three games.

"At first [doctors] said two to four weeks," Lowell said. "Fifteen days is a best-case scenario.

"Last year batting practice was a little annoying but I felt like I could take four good swings in a game. I can't even put my hand in my glove without being uncomfortable. And I haven't picked up a bat because I knew I couldn't do it."

Kevin Youkilis played third base last night and is expected to remain there for the foreseeable future, leaving his consecutive errorless streak at first base at a big league record 198 games. Sean Casey played first and went 2 for 5 with three RBIs.

The Red Sox lost 500 player days on the DL last season, according to figures compiled by Baseball Prospectus, though only one position player, backup catcher Doug Mirabelli (strained calf), spent time on the DL. The Yankees, by contrast, lost 1,081 player days on the DL in 2007.

Lowell has played in 150 or more games in each of the last four seasons, a total he will now be unable to match in 2008, his third with the Sox. This is his fourth trip to the DL, first in almost five years. He missed the last 32 games of the 2003 season after a pitch by Montreal's Hector Almonte fractured a bone in the ring finger of his left hand. Miguel Cabrera, now with the Tigers, replaced Lowell and played a key role in the Marlins winning the World Series that season.

Lowell missed two weeks of the 2000 season when he sustained what was called a strained abductor muscle on the outside of his thumb. Lowell had sustained a similar injury in the minor leagues in 1998, tried to come back too soon, and wound up missing six weeks.

In 1999, he was placed on the DL while recovering from testicular cancer; he ended up playing 97 games for the Marlins that season.

Lowrie, customarily a shortstop, started at third base for the PawSox yesterday afternoon, his first game at the position this season. He played two games there last season.

Sox reserve infielder Alex Cora was taking ground balls at third base before batting practice and felt a "twinge" in his elbow, according to manager Terry Francona, causing him to curtail his activity. Cora was dressed for last night's game.

Timlin in, Corey out

Mike Timlin, who began the season on the DL with a lacerated ring finger on his pitching hand - he sustained the injury fielding a ground ball - will be activated before tonight's game against the Yankees, Francona said. Timlin has made two rehab appearances for Pawtucket, throwing 10 pitches and inducing three ground-ball outs Wednesday night. Timlin, 42, has been on the DL four times since the start of the 2006 season after not appearing on the DL since 2001, when he had knee surgery. He went on the DL with a strained shoulder in 2006, opened the '07 season on the DL with a strained oblique muscle, and went back on the DL with shoulder tendinitis, injuries limiting him to 50 appearances last season, his fewest since appearing in 31 games for Toronto in 1995. To make room for Timlin, the Sox dropped pitcher Bryan Corey (14.54 ERA), who has given up six runs in two-thirds of an inning in his last two outings after pitching well all spring. Sunday, the Sox designated Kyle Snyder for assignment. Corey's departure means a roster spot for David Aardsma, the one-time Giants first-rounder (2003) who has appeared in the big leagues with the Giants, Cubs, and White Sox and has now won a job in Boston after coming from the White Sox in a minor league deal for righthanders Willy Mota and Miguel Socolovich. Aardsma has held batters to a .125 average (2 for 16), striking out six. Corey, like Snyder, is out of options, which means the Sox are likely to designate him for assignment . . . With Lowrie, the Sox noted that their first four picks in the 2005 draft - Lowrie, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, and Craig Hansen - all have made it to the big leagues. That was Jason McLeod's first draft as scouting director. Lowrie's addition places the Sox' 40-man roster at 38.

For all the Beans

The Sox reversed a decision to cancel the consolation game of the Beanpot tournament, but both the championship and consolation game will be played Tuesday instead of Wednesday, with the consolation game at 1 p.m. and the title matchup at 4 p.m. Boston College and the University of Massachusetts will meet in the title game, Harvard and Northeastern in the consolation game. On Wednesday, the Sox said they would not be able to host the consolation game because of field conditions and the short time for field repair, much to the consternation of Harvard coach Joe Walsh. Unbeknownst to Walsh, who apparently did not receive a phone message from the team, the Sox reversed that decision by 3 p.m. yesterday.