NEW YORK -- Mike Lowell arrived at Yankee Stadium yesterday and declared himself "pain-free."

While the Red Sox were in Baltimore and Toronto on this current road trip, Lowell was home in Miami, rehabbing his oblique injury. He began throwing three days ago and will hit off the tee on today.

"I think [trainer] Mike Reinold was very happy with the progress that was made in Florida," Lowell said. "I'm really excited. For the last four days I've been able to do normal daily activity, and it hasn't bothered me at all."

Lowell worked out at Yankee Stadium yesterday, using heavy medicine balls and reported no setbacks.

If everything continues to progress, Lowell will play soft toss tomorrow and may be able to hit in the cage in the next few days.

"Mike's doing real well," said manager Terry Francona.

Lowell said he's been pushing to get back sooner, but he also realizes he can't rush it.

"I don't want to come back and take one violent swing and backtrack," he said. "It's all positive."

It's not just the oblique that's a concern for Lowell. He's also been bothered with a hip flexor for much of the season, and he said yesterday that it's "so-so" and he'll continue to play through the discomfort and wait until the offseason to deal with it.

"I thought the time off would make it feel better, but I'm not sure we've done that," he said.

When he first injured his oblique, it was obvious he was very concerned about it.

"When you take a deep breath or you cough and it hurts, it makes you feel like you're a long way from taking a baseball swing," he said in describing the injury when it first happened. "I think I did the rehab exactly the way they asked me to do it. We've got some games left, some crucial games and I want to be a part of that. From a week ago, my mindset is a lot different."

Now that he's back from Florida, Lowell's a lot more optimistic.