Red Sox manager Terry Francona met with the media before tonight's game against the Indians and held forth on a number of subjects. Here's an excerpt of his comments.

* On the retirement of Johnny Pesky's number [scheduled to take place Friday, not Saturday]: ``As far as the honor, it's terrific. He's very special to a lot of people here and I'm sure it will mean a lot to him. Because of that, it'll be a pretty neat day. I can tell ya there'll be a lot of stories.''

* On the progress of J.D. Drew [back]: ``This is as encouraged as he's been in a long time. We were going to work in the cage, then go out to the field, but he wants to go right out to the field and we're going to go watch him here in a few minutes.''

* On the progress of Mike Lowell [hip]: ``Mikey Lowell, hopefully, is going to hit in the cage today and take it out on the field tomorrow and that's where we're kind of at there.''

* On the progress of Julio Lugo [quad]: ``There's nothing definitive, but he's going to stay here and work with Scott Waugh and the medical staff. He's run into some problems every time he gets to that certain point. Again, I don't know how realistic it is that he's going to play in the near future. But again he's going to keep trying to get better and who knows how long our season lasts.''

* On playing Sean Casey over Jeff Bailey against Cleveland lefthander Cliff Lee: `Yeah, we've thought about it. This is one of the best pitchers in the league and we've got one guy who's had a bunch of hits off him and that's Case [.462, 6 for 13, 4 RBIs].''

*On what he knows about Lee: ``We saw him in New York at the All-Star Game. He may be the best in baseball right now. He's pitching with a ton of confidence, he's using both sides of the plate, and he's got a breaking ball that he's throwing with good spin. I'm sure some of it is health and confidence, but he's good. He's legit. He's breaking a lot of bats and he's widening the plate, he's got good angle on his pitches. He's tough. He's one of the best.''

*On making the playoffs: ``I think it's a huge accomplishment; it's not our final goal. We haven't done it yet, but I think there's a proper time to do everything, everything in its place. What I was commenting on yesterday, somebody asked me if we would celebrate or how would we react and I guess my point is I don't care for it to be scripted. If guys want to run around in the clubhouse and spray each other, that's good. Last year, it spilled onto the field because of the way it ended, with [Baltimore's] Melvin Mora and bunting and everything and Pap dancing. That was great, again, because it happened and it wasn't scripted. How guys feel, that's what they should do. I don't think `penalize' is the right word, but because you've had some success in prior years, I don't see why a group in the present should not enjoy what they're trying to accomplish.''

* To what did he attribute Jed Lowrie's recent struggles at plate: ``He's had a little trouble with the fastball lately. I don't think it's uncharacteristic that a young player has ups and downs. They kinda get a free pass in the league for a while, then the league starts making adjustments. The one thing he's not done is that he's not swinging at balls and still he's running a lot of deep counts and I think he might be a little tired. Hopefully, this week, those are some things we can take care of, if we take care of business, but right now we're not done facing lefthanders and it's probably not the time to sit him.''

* On his particular concern with young players being fatigued at this stage of the season: ``Yeah, there sure is [fatigue]. I think maybe sometimes people will roll their eyes and say, `Well, they're young,' but this is a longer year than they're used to and the intensity of games, I think, shocks young players. When you watch a game on TV and you see guys sitting in the dugout laughing and talking, the intensity of our games is so much different than in a Triple A or Double A game that I think it sometimes amazes the players. And the ups and downs, and the adrenaline, takes a lot out of you. We play a game at Tampa Bay and you lose a crushing game or you win an exhilarating game and 45 minutes later, you're jumping on a plane and end up in Toronto at 3 or 4 in the morning and I think that's harder on people's bodies than they're used to.''

* On how Lowrie's done in the field: ``I think he's done a good job. His couple of errors have been at third base, but the fact that we're talking about a kid making his debut in the major leagues and he's been going back and forth between third and short and he's really handled it quite well. He's done it not only in different games, but in the middle of games and it's allowed us to move Youkilis back to first. We've asked a lot of him and he's hit high up in the order a couple of times and he's actually done a pretty good job. The production out of his bat -- and I know lately he's been through a real tough stretch -- but his production has been terrific.

* On what he likes about Lowrie, defensively, at short: ``He's made all the plays. He's made the plays you're supposed to. He's made all the routine plays and he's made the plays in the hole. I think he will continue to get better as he matures and grows, not just his body, but knowing the league, because he's a very smart kid, a cerebral kid, so I think he'll continue to get better.''

* On Hideki Okajima and his fatigue problem last year: ``Physically? I think right now, his numbers aren't the same that they were last year. As far as physically, being stronger, I think he's in better shape than he was last year. We almost had to shut him down [last year] around now. His split/changeup hasn't been as dominating as they were last year, but as far as his overall health and strength, I think he's been better.''