Lowrie, in his second game with the Triple-A PawSox, homered in the first inning and again in the fifth inning as part of an 8-5, extra-innings loss to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. He finished the night 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a walk, and he also came close to hitting a third home run.
Lowrie also homered on Monday for the PawSox in a 3-2 win.
The 25-year-old Lowrie is recovering from ulnar neuritis, a nerve injury in his forearm suffered during a checked swing on Aug. 7 in a game in New York. Lowrie is on a 20-day rehab assignment, though Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson seems to think Lowrie could be ready to return to the bigs before that.
“He physically feels fine,” Johnson told The Pawtucket Times. “He played nine innings [Monday]. It was the first time in a while. We’ll see how it goes. I was really pleased with what I saw last night. He had pop in the bat. He moved around well. He did a nice job. It was really impressive to see. I’m expecting some good stuff from him. I think he feels that he’s ready to play.”
Given the roster situation on the Red Sox, it's unlikely Lowrie would be called up before Sept. 1, when the rosters expand. The acquisition of Alex Gonzalez means Lowrie won't have a spot every day in the starting lineup, and sending Nick Green down to Pawtucket for just a few days wouldn't make much sense.
The good news is that Lowrie appears to be swinging the bat well and could serve as a worthy bench player in September, when the Red Sox close the season with 20 games in as many days.
