Theo Epstein and Francona both said they are continuing to talk to Lowell and his agent. Epstein said he should have something to tell the media Sunday pregame.
We will give you the update on that when we hear. Then, we get a great pitching matchup between All-Stars Clay Buchholz and Justin Verlander. First pitch is 1:35 p.m.
Final, Red Sox 5-4: Well, Theo Epstein just talked to us about how important August will be. Doesn't hurt to end July on a good note. David Ortiz, one day after his grand slam in the ninth leaves the Sox one run short, clears the bases with a double in this one, sending the club into August with a walk-off win.
That is Ortiz's 15th walk-off win as a member of the Red Sox.
Quite a day here, despite the relatively quiet trade deadline. Let me head down to hear from the fellas on this. Back in a bit.
7:38 p.m.: The Sox have the bases loaded with one out and David Ortiz coming to the plate. Drama unfolding at Fenway. Remember what Ortiz did Friday night.
Mid 9th, Tigers 4-2: The Tigers are obviously without closer Jose Valverde for this one. He threw a career-high 60 pitches Friday night. Ryan Perry is out to start the bottom of the ninth.
End 8th, Tigers 4-2: Victor Martinez's adventure in the eighth pretty much sums it up. He hit a bomb to left-center field that resulted in about the longest single you'll ever see. He then was forced out at second on a bloop to right that fell in. Three outs until another tough loss.
Hideki Okajima is on for the Sox.
Mid 8th, Tigers 4-2: Scott Atchison coasts through the eighth with the help of a nice running catch by Ryan Kalish in left. Great debut for the youngster, especially considering he was in a car heading to the park long after most of the fans were sitting down stuffing their faces.
End 7th, Tigers 4-2: David Ortiz strikes out for the ninth time in three games, this time with the bases loaded in the seventh. The Sox have left 11 runners on base.
Eric Patterson is in center field after running for J.D. Drew. Darnell McDonald moves to right.
6:45 p.m.: The major leaguers haven't been getting it done. Leave it to the youngster. Ryan Kalish drives in the Red Sox' first run of the game with a single in the seventh. Ryan Perry is on in relief for the Tigers with one out in the seventh.
6:40 p.m.: After Bill Hall gets thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double, a critical out in a game that doesn't have many left, the Tigers have pulled Max Scherzer. Brad Thomas is on with a man on third and one out.
Mid 7th, Tigers 4-0: If the Sox can mount a rally, they can give some credit to Dustin Richardson and Scott Atchison for keeping it a four-run game heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Max Scherzer is back out there with a pitch count of 102.
6:28 p.m.: A sacrifice bunt and a strikeout gets Miguel Cabrera up with a runner on third and two outs. The Sox wisely elect to walk him and bring in Scott Atchison.
6:21 p.m.: Daisuke Matsuzaka faces one batter in the seventh and that one batter hits a double into the corner. So, with Austin Jackson on second, Dustin Richardson is on the mound, the first Red Sox reliever of the day.
End 6th, Tigers 4-0: David Ortiz's eighth strikeout in the last three games comes with runners on second and third and just one out, helping to spoil another scoring opportunity. Victor Martinez followed with a fly to center to end it.
Mid 6th, Tigers 4-0: A bit better of late for Daisuke Matsuzaka, but this theme of a lack of run support has been going on for some time now. He is just the latest victim.
Again from Theo Epstein, he feels there is a market to trade Jeremy Hermida when he passes through waivers.
He also was asked about Mike Lowell and said there may be more to tell us a little later on that front. Stay tuned.
End 5th, Tigers 4-0: The Sox have now hit into three double plays, the latest a wild one that was ruled 3-3-6 and also saw Detroit starter Max Scherzer hit by his shortstop at the end of the play.
On another note, Theo Epstein just met with reporters and used the words "disappointed" and "frustrated" when describing the team's inability to accomplish much at the trade deadline.
He said they were close to making moves on several relievers but the market had been set high for some of them and the asking price for prospects was too steep.
I am transcribing all of Theo's meeting and will have a full story up in a bit.
Mid 5th, Tigers 4-0: The good news is that Daisuke Matsuzaka didn't surrender a run in the fifth inning, but he's still in search of his first 1-2-3 inning of the afternoon.
Miguel Cabrera singled in the fifth raising his batting average to .351 for the year.
End 4th, Tigers 4-0: The fourth inning ends with even more frustration for the Red Sox. An inning-ending double play pretty much sums up the type of day it's been for the Sox so far.
David Ortiz led off the inning with a single, but after a Victor Martinez fly-out, Adrian Beltre grounded into the inning-ending double play that ended any threat the Red Sox might have had.
Mid 4th, Tigers 4-0: The hits keep coming, and none are cheap. Detroit has five hits through four, three of them for extra bases. Ramon Santiago's RBI double in the fourth stretches the Tigers' lead.
End 3rd, Tigers 3-0: It wasn't exactly a Daniel Nava-like debut, but Ryan Kalish gets a single in his first trip to the plate in a major league uniform. He moves to second on a groundout and to third on another single, but is left right there when Kevin Youkilis flies to center.
Kalish's hit total is half of what Jeremy Hermida accomplished since returning from the DL.
Mid 3rd, Tigers 3-0: Daisuke Matsuzaka issues a two-out walk but finally gets through an inning unscathed.
My apologies for some lack of game details but just ironing out these moves and what they mean to the Red Sox. Keep an eye out for stories on all of those.
End 2nd, Tigers 3-0: I wonder how many people here at Fenway know that the Sox just acquired a guy with the longest last name in major league history, or at least it was the last time I checked. Jarrod Saltalamachhia is coming to Boston, or at least to the system.
Meanwhile, a leadoff single by Victor Martinez is wasted, thanks in no small part to a double play hit into by Adrian Beltre.
Mid 2nd, Tigers 3-0: The nature of fans is to wish for the world when their club is struggling a bit at the trade deadline. If the Sox are done after trading Ramon Ramirez and acquiring Jarrod Saltalamacchia in separate moves, there will be some critics. It won't help any if this game continues like this.
With assistance from another Adrian Beltre error (his 16th, tied for the most in the AL), Daisuke Matsuzaka gives up another run in the second.
Thing is on the trades, there will be ample opportunities for help during the waiver wire period. The Sox got Alex Gonzalez and Billy Wagner last year in August and both helped in the stretch run.
So don't fret the fact that nothing major was done.
End 1st, Tigers 2-0: How unreal is it that Ryan Kalish was on the road driving to Fenway in the past hour or so and seconds into his major league debut he sees a Miguel Cabrera blast soar over his head. Guess it gives him a good look at the Green Monster.
J.D. Drew draws a one-out walk but nothing comes of it for the Sox in the bottom of the first. Max Scherzer is a different pitcher than the one Boston faced earlier in the year.
Mid 1st, Tigers 2-0: One of the reasons for Daisuke Matsuzaka's recent turnaround was his ability to get through the first inning without a problem. Not so in this one. Miguel Cabrera positively unloaded on a 1-0 fastball from Matsuzaka for his 26th home run of the season.
I'm not sure where that one landed, but if ESPN's Chris Berman were here, he would say it was off to Arlington or something like that. Then we would roll our eyes.
4:11 p.m.: As Daisuke Matsuzaka throws his warmup tosses we get word that Ramon Ramirez was traded to San Francicso. We do not know the details of the trade yet.
Tough day for Ramirez, who was actually pitching a bit better of late. His last act on the field at Fenway Park was getting hit in the face with a ball during batting practice. We saw him changing for a bit in the clubhouse but it wasn't clear what had occured just yet.
Now we know.
4:08 p.m.: The deadline has come and gone but trades may still trickle in as they were just being processed at 3:59 or so. Word is that there will be no Ramon Ramirez deal with the Mets.
3:50 p.m.: The Sox have made it official. Jeremy Hermida designated for assignment and Ryan Kalish selected to major league roster. Kalish will take Hermida's spot batting eighth and playing left field.
3:45 p.m.: Ryan Kalish has in fact made it to the park and Jeremy Hermida has driven off. If and when he gets in there, Kalish will be an instant hit, a quality power-speed guy who plays extremely hard and has been hitting the cover off the ball for the better part of two months.
3:31 p.m.: According to our own Heidi Watney, Jerremy Hermida is being designated for assignment. Ryan Kalish will take his spot on the roster.
It's been a miserable past two months for Hermida, who started out strong and then, even amid a bit of a slump, continued to get some big two-out hits. But his defense was a consistent liability and his bat has become non-existent in the wake of the rib injury.
3:22 p.m.: It's becoming increasingly possible that the two moves we see at the 4:00 p.m. trade deadline are as follows: Mike Cameron to the DL and Ramon Ramirez to the DL.
Cameron was not seen in the clubhouse Saturday morning. He was heavily wrapped in ice after Friday's miserable effort (three strikeouts, dropped fly ball that was ruled an error but a healthy Cameron catches).
Terry Francona said that the club decided not to play Cameron in this one after he arrived at the park in the morning.
"He's sore," Francona said. "We're trying to, as always, communicate with him, see how he feels, go from there."
Ramirez was seen getting into uniform a few moments ago in the clubhouse. Hard to imagine a bump on the forehead (see earlier post on what happened to Ramirez) would cause a DL stint but who knows these days.
3:15 p.m.: The word is Dustin Richardson and Ryan Kalish are on their way to Fenway. Richardson may be filling in for Ramon Ramirez, who we saw get hit by a foul ball. No word on the plan with Kalish. Stay tuned.
2:36 p.m.: While Evans Clinchy's live blog will carry you through each and every rumor, we will slowly shift our focus here to the game at hand, a rather important one for the Sox.
With Justin Verlander looming over Sunday's finale this figures to be a great time for Boston to pick up a win. Otherwise we could be looking at an uphill climb to avoid a three-game sweep.
Heading back to the clubhouse once more to see if any lockers are cleaned out.
1:52 p.m.: This is why you always pay attention during batting practice. Ramon Ramirez was just hit in the face by a batted ball while patroling left field and was taken off the field by the training staff.
I didn't see it happen and he seemed to be OK as he walked off. There are some sarcastic rumors flying around the press box that a DL stint could open up a roster spot or allow something to be moved before 4:00.
Shouldn't be an issue. But something to keep in mind.
1:27 p.m.: As we follow the rumor mill and await anything related to the trade market, there is a sense that several players will be relieved when it is all over. Not that everyone is involved in a rumor or even remotely considered a tradeable piece, but the nature of the day makes it unlike any other in a clubhouse.
As for the Red Sox, we will have separate pieces on Terry Francona's take on the day and the club's continued pursuit of bullpen help from within the system — Felix Doubront will begin that transition in Pawtucket.
As I type this, J.D. Drew is loosening up in the outfield. He said he is good to go and there won't be a repeat of yesterday's late scratch. Francona seemed to reserve anything official until after batting practice, which has begun.
More in a bit.
12:33 p.m.: Greetings from Fenway Park, where the place is abuzz with what could or could not happen in the next four hours as we approach the trade deadline. There is still a game to be played, which will be our primary focus here. To get you prepared for that, here is the Red Sox lineup:
Marco Scutaro, SS
J.D. Drew, RF
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Victor Martinez, C
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Bill Hall, 2B
Jeremy Hermida, LF
Darnell McDonald, CF
10:19 a.m.: With the trade deadline making this one of the busiest and most exciting days on the calendar, we will certainly keep you updated on everything the Red Sox and their rivals are involved in. But for a complete trade-by-trade tracker, follow Evans Clinchy's live blog.
6 a.m.: The trade deadline will come and go in the moments before the Red Sox and Tigers meet up at Fenway Park on Saturday afternoon, casting an uneasy feeling over two teams with needs at several areas.
The Sox continue to struggle offensively and are still rumored to be involved in a bid for bullpen help. They figure to remain buyers in the market, in spite of Friday's 6-5 loss to the Tigers leaving them seven games behind the wild-card leading Tampa Bay Rays.
Daisuke Matsuzaka will try to do what Jon Lester could not — shut down a pretty weak Tigers lineup that features a host of injury replacements.
Max Scherzer will go for Detroit, which ended a 10-game road losing streak Friday night.
First pitch is 4:10 p.m. The trade deadline is 10 minutes earlier.
