Giles blocks would-be trade to Boston

Dustin Pedroia extended his road hitting streak to 27 games with a three-run home run in the eighth. (NAM Y. HUH/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

CHICAGO - If the Red Sox could have worked out a deal for Brian Giles, whom they claimed off waivers Wednesday, he would have been a helpful piece to a team battling for a postseason berth. Yesterday, Giles nixed a trade to the Sox, but they weren't too broken up about it.

While they would have liked to have the outfielder, a high on-base-percentage player, it was about a 50-50 split between wanting him and blocking him from going to another team (the Rays).

Before the 1:30 p.m. deadline yesterday to consummate a deal, Giles decided to exercise his limited no-trade clause, which allowed him to veto deals to eight teams, including the Red Sox. Up to that point, the Sox had only had preliminary talks with San Diego and general manager Kevin Towers, given that Giles made it clear early that he would not accept a deal to Boston.

The outfielder, 37, is comfortable in San Diego, because of his family's ties to the area and because he likes the playing time. Giles grew up in San Diego and is interested in finishing his career there. He starts for the Padres, and he would not have done so for the Sox. Giles is batting .295 with six home runs and 37 RBIs in 104 games this season in right and center field.

Both Giles and the Sox were unsure and unhappy about the circumstances surrounding the news of the waiver claim being made public. There are significant fines for discussing waiver claims.

"I didn't know everybody was supposed to know, especially when it wasn't a done deal and it wouldn't go down," Giles told the Associated Press before the Padres' game against Colorado. "I signed a three-, possibly four-year deal here. I'm committed to fulfill that contract. If next year doesn't work out with the option, I'll be a free agent and I can choose where I go."

The Sox are not currently working on a deal to add anyone who has passed through waivers, but they would still like to bolster their outfield with a bat off the bench. The bullpen is another area of interest, though the Sox feel the addition of Justin Masterson has helped.

For the Padres, it would have been a way to cut costs.

Giles was due the remainder of his $9 million contract for this season (plus he would have earned a $2 million bonus for being traded), and he has a club option in 2009 for $9 million ($11 million if traded) with a $3 million buyout.

Joe Bick, the agent for Kevin Youkilis and Giles, was at U.S. Cellular Field yesterday. He said the decision was up to Giles, and that he went with the wishes of his client.

Lowell frustrated
Mike Lowell refuses to blame his deep slump - .171 in his last 18 games; .202 in his last 30 - on his injured right hip flexor. (He got an injection Monday, even though he said he injured it at the end of June, which coincides with the start of the slump.) Lowell went 0 for 4 in last night's 5-3 loss to the White Sox, including popping out to the catcher to end an eighth-inning rally.

"The numbers are almost irrelevant," Lowell said. "If I feel good at the plate, I think I'm going to get hits. But when you don't feel like there's a consistency . . . I feel like I'm battling that. And that's hard. They could put the ball on the tee for you. If you don't feel good and you're not consistent, there's no guarantee of hits. But I'm not going to cry. Go out and get them. I had a couple of good hitter's counts and I did nothing with them. It's just frustrating."

Bullpen streak over
When Manny Delcarmen allowed a home run to Carlos Quentin in the eighth inning, it was the first run given up by the bullpen in 18 innings over six games. That was the bullpen's longest scoreless streak in four years, since the team went 32 1/3 innings in August 2004 . . . Youkilis ended his 12-game hitting streak . . . Dustin Pedroia continued his road hitting streak, extending it to 27 straight games. That matches Luis Castillo's, in 2002, for the longest road streak by a second baseman since 1956 . . . Jason Bay singled in the seventh inning, giving him a hit in all seven games he's played since being traded to the Red Sox . . . Jed Lowrie got hit by a pitch from Bobby Jenks on the top of his left foot in the ninth. Lowrie said the swelling had gone down when he iced it, but that he would see if there was any swelling today . . . The Reverend Jesse Jackson attended the game.

Under review
While "investigation" might be too strong a word for Major League Baseball's check into the circumstances surrounding the trade of Manny Ramírez to the Dodgers, executive vice president of labor relations and human resources Rob Manfred has been making calls. It appears unlikely anything will come of the inquiry, but there is interest, given the allegations that Ramírez forced a trade by not playing to his full capacity in his final days with the Sox . . . MLB representatives went to St. Petersburg, Fla., this week to meet with the Rays about the postseason. While other potentially playoff-bound teams, like the Red Sox and Angels, have hosted big events before, the Rays have not. MLB wanted to make sure the Rays understood how to handle a large-scale event. One of the topics? Wireless Internet access for the media, after a World Series debacle in which the Internet went down during Red Sox-Rockies games in Denver . . . David Aardsma was activated after being on the disabled list since July 19 with a strained right groin. Aardsma threw a light bullpen session before last night's game . . . Even though Jacoby Ellsbury has shown signs of emerging from his slump over the past two games, he was not in the lineup. That was because lefthander Mark Buehrle was on the mound. Coco Crisp was in center instead. Crisp, 1 for 3 last night, is 13 for 35 (.371) with two home runs and five RBIs off Buehrle in his career . . . With Ramírez gone, Youkilis said he doesn't mind batting cleanup, where he began last night hitting .279 for his career. "It's not a bad spot to hit," he said. "But I don't try to hit home runs. I just go up there and try [to have] a good at-bat. I like hitting down in the order. Four's always fun. Five, six, three. It doesn't matter. When you hit first and second sometimes, and you're not there on a steady basis, it can be a little overwhelming. You run in the dugout and you're up to bat."

Nick Cafardo of the Globe staff contributed to this report.