04:00 AM EDT on Monday, July 26, 2004

BY SEAN MCADAM
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- It looked like it was going to be another long night for Derek Lowe in the first inning last night.

A leadoff double, a sacrifice, two singles, a hit batsman and a sacrifice fly spotted the New York Yankees a quick 2-0 lead and threatened to derail any momentum the Red Sox had earned from Saturday's dramatic comeback victory.

The Sox' chance of grabbing the final game of the three-game series seemed to be slipping away even before they had an opportunity to hit.

But after laboring through 26 pitches to record the first three outs, Lowe seemed like a different pitcher. From the second inning through the sixth, he allowed just four more hits.

In the meantime, his teammates were teeing off on New York starter Jose Contreras for six runs over the first two innings, sending the Sox to a 9-6 victory and a series win.

Lowe tired in the seventh with 119 pitches, and after Kenny Lofton reached on an error by Mark Bellhorn and Alex Rodriguez worked a two-out walk, Lowe was lifted in favor of Mike Timlin. A walk and grand slam to Hideki Matsui followed, but Lowe wasn't charged with any more earned runs.

The two unearned runs continued a season-long trend for Lowe, whose very presence on the mound seems to result in errors by his fielders. Opponents have scored a staggering 23 runs off Lowe -- or more than one per start -- this season.

But the Sox defense actually came to his rescue in the first, with Johnny Damon leaping to snare a fly ball by Matsui and Manny Ramirez making a fine running play on a fly ball near the left field line by Bernie Williams.

"The situation looked like it could have evolved into a big inning," Lowe said. "Any time you don't let the Yankees get a big inning, we keep our offense in the game."

Indeed, if Lowe has sometimes been the victim of sloppy defensive play, he's also been the beneficiary of some offensive outbursts. In his 20 starts this season, the Sox have averaged 6.45 runs.

Working with catcher Doug Mirabelli -- playing in place of the injured Jason Varitek -- Lowe changed his approach some, reducing the number of sinkers he threw and relying more on his four-seam fastball and cutter.

"When you pitch against the same team over and over again," he explained, "you have to make adjustments. Looking at game tape and looking at how they hit against me, they just stand there and wait for sinkers away. A lot of guys look for one pitch and so we didn't give it to them."

With the trading deadline now only six days away, there exists the possibility -- however slight -- that last night represented Lowe's final start as a member of the Red Sox.

He's heard the rumors and is aware of the speculation, and despite his rejection of a three-year, $27-million contract extension this spring, he would be saddened by a trade.

"Absolutely," Lowe said. "This is probably the single greatest place to play. But people don't care about what you think. It's a business. But I wish everybody who plays this game could experience what a great place this is to play and I wish everyone could experience this rivalry (we have with the Yankees)."