Oblique injury is a cruel twist for Lowell
Mike Lowell struck out looking in the seventh inning, because there was nothing else he could do. He couldn't swing, having strained his right oblique during the at-bat.
"I took those two swings my last at-bat, the first one I felt like a little grab on my side, the second one I felt something a lot more significant," said Lowell, who then left the game. "The last pitch I kind of panicked, I didn't know what to do. I didn't think I could swing. I was kind of hoping he'd just flop a curveball or something. I've never had this happen to me before. It's just frustrating."
And now he's hoping that the injury isn't too bad. The Sox will give Lowell an MRI today to determine the severity of the injury, though oblique problems can often linger, especially in baseball players. After the game, Lowell could barely stand, his eyes and face wrinkled with what seemed like pain. He was deeply concerned about what today's MRI would bring.
"I can't really stand up really straight," he said. "I feel like keeping bent over feels a lot more comfortable. Getting up out of a chair isn't the greatest thing. I just hope I sleep good tonight."
Asked if he thought the disabled list would be a possibility, Lowell said, "I hope tomorrow I feel better. I'm just, I'm not sure.
"I'm kind of - I wouldn't say nervous about it - but I feel like I'm in uncharted waters. I'd like to avoid [the DL]."
The trainers, Lowell said, have told him to take it slowly, believing that rest will help his already ailing hip. Lowell has been suffering from a strained right hip flexor since the end of June, and spent time earlier this season on the disabled list with a sprained left thumb. But Lowell said that, with the injection he got a week ago, his hip had been improving.
"I don't see them as two totally different things, it's just too much of a coincidence," he said, of the hip and the oblique.
"Those two swings were weird. I tried to kind of bend over and grab it, and see if something would go away. But, I don't know, it's kind of getting progressively worse."
Sorry, Charlie
Charlie Zink was optioned to Pawtucket after the game to make room for Paul Byrd, who will pitch Friday. Zink allowed eight runs in his major league debut, though he left after 4 1/3 innings with a lead. "I didn't expect that kind of offense," he said. "I left some balls up. They're big league hitters, they're a great hitting team. I left them up and they hit them well. I just couldn't make an adjustment at that point." . . . The Sox might have to make another move tomorrow, given that Justin Masterson was the only reliever who did not pitch last night . . . The 19 runs for the Sox were a season high . . . With the save, Jonathan Papelbon tied Dick Radatz with 104 saves, second-most in Sox history . . . Dustin Pedroia tied a career high with five hits.Ellsbury nicked
Jacoby Ellsbury was scratched from the starting lineup just before game time with tightness and a bruise in his tailbone area, but he entered as a pinch hitter in the eighth and wound up scoring the run that tied it, 16-16. Ellsbury was hit by a John Danks pitch in the rear end in the sixth inning Monday night, breaking up the pitcher's perfect game . . . Julio Lugo is making progress coming back from the torn left quadriceps that landed him on the disabled list July 12. Lugo took ground balls yesterday for the first time since the injury, though it didn't go beyond that. "He's starting to move around a little bit," manager Terry Francona said. "Today's really his first day of baseball activities on the field. Now, he's not going in the hole and throwing people out, but he's starting to get back on the field, which is good. He's worked hard." . . . Texas starter Scott Feldman gave up 10 runs in the first inning, but that wasn't a record. The Red Sox' Lefty O'Doul gave up 13 runs in the sixth inning of the first game of a doubleheader at Cleveland on July 7, 1923.Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com. 