Injection next for Lowell?

ATLANTA -- Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell just acknowledged that he will likely have an injection next week of the substance known as Synvisc, a man-made lubricant designed to lessen the pain in joints.

While Lowell would not say definitively that he will miss this weekend's series against the Braves, he would likely have the injection on Monday. The injection would likely require him to sit an additional 24 hours, meaning he may not start again before Tuesday night's game in Baltimore.

"I wouldn't say no to that," Lowell said. "But I'm sure I'm going to have a response by like an hour or so. ... We had talked about it briefly before, doing it on the off day. But I think it was just so tight yesterday again that it might be better to bump that up and see what happens."

Red Sox followers might already be familiar with Synvisc, a lubricant injected into closer Keith Foulke's knees during spring training of the reliever's final year in Boston. Foulke had the injection to alleviate pain caused by an absence of cartilage, effectively leaving him with bone rubbing against bone.

Lowell said the recent discomfort in his hip is not near the level he experienced last season, when the problem forced him out of the lineup. He was a virtual non-factor in the second half of the season as a result of the problem.

"I don't know if I'm worried," Lowell said. "I'm a little frustrated that I think things were going so good for like these first 60 games, and then I just woke up one morning, I felt really tight. I played through it and it really hasn't gone away. I think it's a little frustrating, but I think I take confidence in [doctors] saying that it's something that they expected. If this kind of caught them off guard, I think I'd be more on the worried side than on the frustrated side."

Asked whether the tightness might necessitate a stint on the disabled list, Lowell said, "I don't know. I hope not. ... I spoke to Brad Mills, I think he had [Synvisc] in his knee, said he felt great the day after. So I'm hoping that's the case for me. If that happens, if I have to do that and take two days off and I feel great, maybe we got over the hump. But I'm kind in wait-and-see and they'll let me know."