In a painful decision, Lowell is deactivated for the ALCS
The pain was too much for Mike Lowell. Having him attempt to play was too painful - and too damaging - for the Red Sox. So after a consultation with doctors on the torn labrum in Lowell's right hip yesterday, the third baseman was removed from the American League Division Series roster.
That move likely (though not certainly) signals the end of the season for the third baseman, who will head into the offseason bound for surgery.
Because he was taken off the roster in the middle of the series, Lowell will also not be available for the AL Championship Series, but he could be added to the World Series roster if he were to recover in time. That seems unlikely at this point, though.
So in one year, Lowell has gone from the chants of "Re-sign Lowell" that marked the Sox' second World Series win in four years to a seat on the bench for the stretch run. Though that's not by choice.
"I think it's tough, the whole mix of medication and painkillers, the fear was that you're a step slow on your reflexes because some of it would make you drowsy," Lowell said after the Sox clinched a trip to the ALCS last night. "I felt like especially that ball [Mark] Teixeira hit to my left [in Game 3], I feel like that's a play I should make. I felt like I was a step late, then you turn it into a dive. You shouldn't be in that position if you can't make that play.
"I just think that last at-bat, those checked swings, after all the medication I'm taking, I still feel it flaring up. I just think I'm not doing any good. It's tough. I felt like the walk [in the 10th in Game 3] was good, but I can't bank on walking."
Before the announcement, manager Terry Francona was asked if there was a possibility that Lowell might not play another game in the postseason, and he answered immediately: "Yes." Not long after that came word that Lowell had been taken off the roster, replaced with infielder Gil Velazquez, 28, who had spent 11 years in the minor leagues before finally making his major league debut in September.
But Lowell wasn't quite ready to declare his season over.
"The docs are going to see how I react the next two, three days," he said. "I think if we get to the World Series, you do play games at National League parks, so pinch hitters are used more often. In the American League it's totally different. We'll see.
"I'd love to be a part of it, but as long as I feel like I can bring something to the table. I don't think they owe me a roster spot."
Lowell finished 0 for 8 in the series. He did draw a walk in the 10th inning Sunday night, and was replaced with pinch runner Alex Cora.
Once Game 3 was over, and Lowell came into the clubhouse, he was walking slowly. He struggled to put on his pants. He was just as sore when he got to the park yesterday.
Asked if the pain was getting worse for Lowell, Francona said, "I think so. I think [Sunday] night, it's a long game. It's cold. He had to dive to his right. He had to dive to his left. He got pushed a little bit. I think that definitely aggravated it a little bit.
"I think he's a little frustrated. Nobody questions his toughness. It's just getting difficult for him to be a baseball player right now."
Velazquez spent the season at Triple A, playing all four infield positions in addition to left field. He hit .260 with 10 home runs and 46 RBI. He was 1 for 8 with Boston during the regular season.
Zeroed in
Despite seven innings of work in Game 3's 12-inning loss, the Red Sox bullpen was available in its entirety last night. Hideki Okajima, Justin Masterson, and Manny Delcarmen each pitched two-thirds of an inning in Game 4. But with Jonathan Papelbon having thrown 21 pitches in two innings Friday night and another 31 in two innings Sunday, Francona said he was going to try to keep Papelbon to a single inning last night.With Sunday's outing, Papelbon extended his scoreless innings in the postseason to 19 2/3, the second-most career playoff innings without giving up a run (behind Joe Niekro's 20 innings).
But Papelbon's wasn't the only impressive outing Sunday. Masterson hit 96 miles per hour on the radar gun on his final pitch to Vladimir Guerrero, which resulted in a swinging strikeout.
"You just kind of keep it in your back pocket when you need to use it," Masterson said. "There's been a few times, I think, throughout the year, that you kind of sneak it in there. Just came in a good situation."
Options limited
Sean Casey was the only Red Sox position player that hadn't seen action in the postseason (other than Velazquez). Paul Byrd and Tim Wakefield did not pitch in the ALDS. Even though the Sox used almost every one of their position players in Game 3, Casey still remained on the bench. Because of the way the Angels play, it's imperative to have an agile fielder at first base, Francona said, explaining his decision to go with Mark Kotsay over Casey at first base last night. Francona said there were a couple of situations in Sunday night's game when Casey could have pinch hit, had the Angels gone different ways with some of their pitchers. "If you get deep into a game like that, it limits your options," he said. "We hit for [Kevin] Cash, but we can't hit Casey for Cash, because then you're putting your slowest runner on to lead off the inning, and we don't have a [pinch] runner."Pedroia picks his spot
Dustin Pedroia finally had his moment last night after starting the series 0 for 15. After Kotsay had scored on a Jacoby Ellsbury ground out for the first run of the game, Pedroia stepped to the plate and doubled off the Wall to score Jason Varitek for a 2-0 lead in the fifth. "It's my job to score runs and get on base," Pedroia said. "I take that personal. If we're not scoring a lot of runs, and I'm not doing anything, it's my fault. It's nobody else's fault but mine." . . . Last night's game was the 23d in major league postseason history that a series has been won on a walkoff hit . . . Varitek's single in the fifth was his 53d postseason hit, which tied Manny Ramírez for second on the Sox' all-time list, behind David Ortiz with 56 . . . Once the field was cleared after the game, John Henry and Tom Werner were among a group that ran around the bases, and played catch past 1 a.m.Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com 