Last night he belted two home runs after entering the game in the second inning following Youkilis’s ejection. Youkilis charged the mound after Rick Porcello hit him in the back with a fastball. After the benches emptied and Youkilis, who threw his helmet at Porcello before tackling him, got thrown out, Lowell entered as a pinch runner. The gimpy Lowell joked that pinch running could become his specialty. But right now his job is to hit home runs and because he still can do it, the Red Sox are still 5 1/2 games behind the Yankees, who beat Toronto last night.
“It was pretty crazy,’’ Lowell said of the events that led up to him entering the game. “Emotions were running high. It feels great to be able to get ready and get into a game like that and do something to help win a game. The situation I’m in is both unique and weird. I’m trying to get myself ready.’’
With Porcello gone, Detroit manager Jim Leyland had no choice but to go with reliever Chris Lambert, who promptly allowed a single to David Ortiz and a homer to Jason Bay, wiping out Detroit’s 3-0 lead. Lowell homered over the Green Monster in the third to give Boston its first lead, 4-3, and then blasted a two-run Monster shot in the fifth to extend the lead to 6-3.
Lowell became the first Red Sox to come off the bench to hit two homers in a game since Joe Foy on June 9, 1967. While Lowell has been the good soldier during his recent time on the bench, it’s evident he’d prefer to play every day, an impossibility because of Boston’s excess of corner infielders.
Terry Francona, who was ejected in the second for arguing another call, said of Lowell, “I do think it shows a lot of professionalism. That’s not an easy thing to and he comes in and directly impacts the game twice. I think he would like to play more, I completely understand that. I would hope his hip feels better as he doesn’t grind on it as much, but I don’t think we need to take credit for him being a good hitter. He’s been that for a while.’’
