ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The injuries continue to pile up for the Red Sox.

In the first inning last night, Doug Mirabelli, getting increased playing time because of a left knee injury that required surgery and knocked out Jason Varitek earlier in the week, wrenched his left knee on a play at the plate.

Mirabelli tagged out Carl Crawford on a throw from first baseman Kevin Youkilis for the final out of the inning. Crawford's leg made contact with Mirabelli's left leg, causing the catcher's left ankle to twist. Mirabelli had to be helped off the field by manager Terry Francona and trainer Paul Lessard.

Somehow, Mirabelli was able to stay in the game for a short time. He stood in the on-deck circle, and was left there when Alex Cora made the final out of the second inning.

Mirabelli, clearly favoring his left leg, caught the second inning, a six-pitch 1-2-3 frame for Curt Schilling. But when it came for him to lead off the third, Mirabelli was replaced by Javy Lopez, who had only joined the team a few hours earlier after having been obtained from the Orioles.

During the game, the report was that Mirabelli had suffered a twisted left ankle and would undergo further evaluation.

The Sox are going to need another catcher for tonight's game, at the very least, to back up Lopez.

Ken Huckaby is not available because he was designated for assignment yesterday. He has to clear waivers, a three-day period that does not include the weekend, when the MLB offices are closed to such business. So he can't be brought back until Wednesday, if he clears waivers, and Boston can't wait that long, obviously.

Mirabelli and the Sox were hopeful that he wouldn't have to be placed on the DL, but he certainly won't be available for at least a few days.

"I tried to stick out my foot to block the plate, and his foot hit my foot and moved it to the side," said Mirabelli, walking with the use of one crutch.

"Sometimes the initial pain will subside after 5 or 10 minutes, but this wasn't going away. I was becoming more of a hindrance to the team so I came out rather than try to play through it. Fortunately the ligaments are okay and there are no fractures," he said.

Roster decimation

It has been a week of roster decimation for the Red Sox.

First it was Trot Nixon (strained biceps) on Sunday. Then it was Varitek on Monday. Last night it was Mirabelli.

And Thursday night, it was Mike Lowell, who fouled off a pitch, badly bruising his left foot early in the game. Yesterday, Lowell could hardly move two inches at a time, barely able to even hobble in the team's clubhouse.

Lowell could not play last night, and while Francona said he was hoping he would be able to get back into the lineup tonight, that notion seemed doubtful after watching Lowell try to negotiate the five feet necessary to plop down on a couch in the clubhouse.

The injury put yet another serious crimp in Francona's shrinking complement of position players. The Sox are carrying 13 pitchers, which left three players on the bench last night -- Lowell, who couldn't play; Lopez, the backup catcher who ultimately was forced into last night's game because of Mirabelli's injury, and outfielder Gabe Kapler.

Francona admitted to being shorthanded, but wasn't sure how the team could immediately best rectify the situation, which cropped up on Monday when right-hander Bryan Corey replaced Nixon on the roster.

"I don't think we'll spend August with 13 pitchers. That's probably not going to work," said Francona.

Lowell, meanwhile, is likely to be out for several days.

"He had a really tough time walking to the plane. We all got nervous," said Francona of the team's departure from Boston for the road trip.

Lowell had x-rays and a fluoroscope, and no broken bones showed up on the pictures. It's possible that where he was hit -- where the ankle meets the foot -- caused nerves to become irritated and inflamed.

But Lowell was worried there might be more damage.

"I can't put any pressure on it. That's concerning me, to be honest. I can't push off on it," said Lowell, wearing a compression sleeve on his ankle after his third round of ice treatments.

Ironically, on Tuesday night Lowell had fouled a ball off his right ankle and had to leave the game in the ninth. That one has given him a nasty bruise, but he's able to put pressure on his right ankle.

Lowell was replaced at third base last night by Alex Cora, who also served as the emergency catcher.

Multi-talented Rocco

Injured Devil Ray Rocco Baldelli, who said he had no art training at Hendricken, where he was a multi-sport star, etched with sunflower seeds the likenesses of since-traded teammates Julio Lugo, Toby Hall and Mark Hendrickeson on Styrofoam cups.

Baldelli donated the cups to the Arts Center, which is raffling them off for $5 a ticket. The raffle will continue through this homestand.

Lineup juggled

The Sox' lineup featured a little shifting around, brought about by the injuries to Varitek, Nixon and Lowell.

Lowell had been pushed up to the number-five spot, previously filled mostly by Nixon. But with Lowell out, Youkilis dropped from leadoff to fifth as Francona tried to protect his dynamic 3-4 duo of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez., and Coco Crisp was boosted back up to the leadoff spot.

Youkilis and Crisp seemingly had emerged from slumps. Youkilis had been 6-for-13 in his previous three games. Crisp had been 7-for-15 over his previous four games.

Around the bases

Cora was sporting a new number. He gave Lopez his number, 23, and took 13 . . . Tampa Bay catcher Dioner Navarro forgot how many outs there were in the fourth. When he caught a pitch for a called third strike on Youkilis, he took off for the Rays' dugout, flipping the baseball to a fan in the stands. He got all the way down the steps before being told the Youkilis punchout was only the second out of the inning.

skrasner@projo.com / (401) 277-7340