Lowell gets a night off - and a shot

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - With the cleanup hitter shipped to Los Angeles, and his replacement in left field currently occupying the fifth spot in the order, the right hip of Mike Lowell stands as a concern for the Red Sox, especially as they continue a road trip through Kansas City and Chicago.

Lowell's absence was the reason J.D. Drew found himself batting leadoff last night, with Kevin Youkilis backing up David Ortiz in the fourth spot. Lowell was back in Boston, getting a shot to ease the pain in his right hip flexor, an injury that he has played through for weeks. He had a cortisone shot before the All-Star break, then had to further deal with it yesterday, getting a shot that manager Terry Francona declined to explain fully.

"He got a shot, but the shot, they needed to get it in the joint space," Francona said. "And they can't do that without a fluoroscope. He had been looked at by the doctors. They said, you're really not going to make this worse, it just hurts. So he played [Sunday] and he got the shot this morning."

Even with the pain, Lowell had started all 15 games since the All-Star break. But over those games, he had just 13 hits in 63 at-bats, for a .206 average. He had three doubles, but no other extra-base hits, for a slugging percentage of .254. He had six RBIs and 11 strikeouts in that time.

The shot should help the pain, but Francona can't predict how long the shot will last - whether it takes Lowell through the rest of the season.

"If a guy takes a move the wrong way, or if he got hit by a pitch and he aggravated [it], I think the hope is it lasts for a while," Francona said. "I don't know, to be honest with you, what the life of one of these is."

Lowell did not travel with the team to Kansas City but was expected to arrive there last night. As for whether he'll be in the lineup tonight, that remains to be seen.

"He'll want to and he may be able to," Francona said. "But what I don't want to do is [negate] something like this that is for the benefit of the rest of the year, and then have him run himself right back into the ground by the fifth inning.

"If he needs another day, I've got no problem doing that."

Ortiz not locked in
When Ortiz couldn't convert with two on and one out in the ninth inning of last night's 4-3 loss, it was an example of how he still isn't quite right at the plate. He grounded to first instead of getting the runs home, as he might have been expected to do in prior years. "I thought he took a swing late in the game, he was right on it, he fouled it back," Francona said. "I know when he gets locked in, we're certainly a different team." . . . By going 3 for 4, Dustin Pedroia extended his road hitting streak to 25 games (49 for 110, .445). That's the longest streak for a member of the Red Sox since Tris Speaker's 29 in 1913 . . . The Sox have not won more than three straight road games all season. They have done that three times . . . With his ninth-inning single, Jason Bay has a hit in every game he's played with the Sox. He did end his streak of scoring a run at three games.

Man of many hats
Because the Sox didn't have Lowell, they shifted the lineup, with Drew at leadoff, Youkilis at cleanup, and Sean Casey batting sixth. Youkilis also shifted across the diamond to third base, with Casey playing first. It wasn't the first time Francona has gone with the player signed to bat fifth at the top of the order. Drew hit leadoff in 14 games in 2007, batting .264 with 13 runs. "I've got the leadoff helmet I carry with me every once in a while, in case I need it," joked Drew, who went 0 for 4. "I don't think too much about lineups, positions, spots, and stuff. I know Tito gets strapped a little bit, and sometimes he needs somebody to fill in certain roles and I don't mind doing it at all." It allowed the Sox more righty-lefty balance, without having to bat Drew and Casey back-to-back . . . Youkilis extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a first-inning RBI double . . . Francona elected to go with Coco Crisp over Jacoby Ellsbury in center field, partially because of Crisp's success against Gil Meche (6 for 19 with a homer). Not wanting another lefty in the lineup was another consideration. But it wasn't an easy call, given how much both players are struggling. Crisp had hit just .133 (6 for 45) over his last 17 games. Ellsbury is hitting only .217 (34 for 157) over his last 38. Crisp went 1 for 4, striking out three times.

An honor for Lester
After a July in which he went 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA, Jon Lester was named American League Pitcher of the Month. He walked just six and struck out 28 while pitching at least seven innings in all four of his starts. "I don't need to be recognized," Lester said. "It's something that's nice. It's something to be celebrated or whatever. But I don't need that award to realize how far this year has come, how good I've progressed, how much more comfortable I've become on the mound." Lester added that his better command has been the result of a "natural progression" for him, gaining consistency and confidence. Lester is the first Sox pitcher since Pedro Martínez in July 2002 to win the award, and just the third overall (Bruce Hurst in September 1986 and August 1988) . . . Bartolo Colon will start for Pawtucket tonight as he works his way back from a lower back strain.

Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com