Papelbon

BOSTON — It wasn’t as smooth as he pictured it, but Red Sox pitcher Jonathan Papelbon reached a milestone yesterday.

The starter-turned-closer collected his 100th career save with an interesting ninth inning against the Orioles. Boston held a 2-0 lead heading into the inning before Baltimore pushed a run across on the hard-throwing right-hander. Overall, he allowed that one run on three hits.

“It feels nice, man,” he said. “I would have liked to have done it without giving up a run. I didn’t execute pitches very well, but I was able to go out there and will myself through that one and, sure enough, collect my 100th. It was real nice.”

Only two other Red Sox pitchers have reached 100 saves — Dick Radatz (104) and Bob Stanley (132).

What’s more impressive about Papelbon’s milestone is that he achieved it in only his 176th game, making him the second-fastest major-league pitcher to accomplish that. Seattle’s Kazuhiro Sasaki did it in 160 games.

Papelbon said he’s very proud of his career accomplishments so far.

“It’s been a culmination of a lot of things,” he said. “One hundred down, I guess three or four hundred left to go.”

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said he didn’t realize Papelbon had reached the milestone.

Lin is Futures MVP

Red Sox farmhand Che-Hsuan Lin, an outfielder at Single-A Greenville, participated in the All-Star Futures Game at Yankee Stadium yesterday and was selected as the game’s MVP. He went 2-for-2 with a home run to lead the World Futures to a 3-0 victory over the U.S. Futures. A Taiwan native, Lin, 19, signed with the Red Sox as a non-drafted free agent June 8, 2007.

Lowell plays DH

Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell was given yesterday off — sort of. He did not play the field, but served as the DH. The veteran, who spent time on the disabled list this season with a thumb injury, has played 79 games so far in 2008.

“He’s a little beat up,” Francona said. “He’s been a little beat and this is a way to maybe keep his bat in the lineup.”

He enters the break with a .301 average with 13 homers and 57 RBI.

Just rest for Lugo

Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo, who was placed on the disabled list Saturday with severe quadriceps tear in his left leg, will begin his rehab process by just resting.

Near-miss for Alicea

Red Sox first-base coach Luis Alicea was nearly struck by a foul ball hit by Drew in the fourth inning yesterday. Fortunately, the scorching line drive just missed him as he tumbled to the ground. He was able to laugh about the almost-incident after the game.

“I don’t know how I got out of the way of it,” he said with a sigh of relief.

Prior to the 2008 season, Major League Baseball mandated that all base coaches wear a helmet.

jmcdonal@projo.com