Jed Lowrie congratulates Mike Lowell, who returned from the DL with a bang by blasting a second-inning home run last night for the Red Sox.

AP / Tony Gutierrez

ARLINGTON, Texas — Tim Wakefield will be making his 500th appearance on the mound for the Red Sox tonight when he starts in the middle game of the three-game series against the Rangers.

That will make Wakefield only the 23rd pitcher in major-league history to have 500 games and 350 starts with the same team. There are only two other active players who have reached those milestones, though each of them — Tom Glavine and John Smoltz — happens to be on the disabled list right now.

Wakefield is the 46th pitcher in major-league history to appear in at least 500 games for one team, and he is only the second Sox pitcher to work in 500 games. Bob Stanley (637) was the other.

It will be the knuckleballer’s third start since returning from the disabled list. Wakefield has gone 1-1 in those two previous outings, allowing six earned runs in 11 innings, including three homers. Wakefield is 8-9 this season and 162-143 in his 14-year career with Boston.

Lowell back in the swing

Mike Lowell was activated from the disabled list prior to last night’s game.

The Sox third baseman hadn’t played since Aug. 12 when an oblique muscle strain sent him to the disabled list.

Most players go out on rehab assignments when they’ve been gone that long. Not Lowell.

And he sure didn’t look rusty.

On his very first swing, Lowell lofted a 2-and-0 pitch from Kevin Millwood just over the fence in left for a homer that gave the Sox a 1-0 advantage in the second inning. It was his 15th homer of the year.

Then in his second at-bat, Lowell smacked a two-run single to left that expanded Boston’s lead to 3-0 in the fourth.

Francona pushes right buttons

Mark Kotsay took his turn in the cleanup spot last night.

That moved Dustin Pedroia back to his customary No. 2 hole in the batting order. The diminutive second baseman, though, thrived in the cleanup spot. In four starts as the Sox’ No. 4 hitter, Pedroia went 11-for-17 (.647) with three doubles, two homers and six RBI.

Lowell could have been a candidate to bat fourth, but because last night marked his first game back from the DL, manager Terry Francona had been reluctant to fire him into the lineup as the cleanup hitter right away.

Francona praised Kotsay’s versatility, both offensively where the manager feels he can bat him anywhere in the order, and in the field where he has Kotsay playing first base, a position he has played sparingly in his big-league career.

Kotsay joined the Red Sox in a trade from Atlanta on Aug. 27.

The switch in the batting-order spots, meanwhile, clearly didn’t trouble Pedroia. He laced the second pitch he saw for a line-drive double to left in the first inning, a ball that a diving Marlon Byrd was unable to grab before it hit the turf.

The two-bagger extended Pedroia’s latest hitting streak to nine games. It was his 18th extra-base hit in his last 21 games.

Youkilis stays in Boston

Kevin Youkilis’ back woes have improved, but he was not with the Red Sox for last night’s game.

Youkilis, who missed the last two games of the series against Baltimore at home earlier this week, stayed behind in Boston to attend to a personal matter, said Francona.

Francona said Youkilis had received treatment at Fenway Park on Thursday, an off day for the team, and that his back had improved to the point to where he probably would have started last night. Youkilis is expected to rejoin the Red Sox in time for tonight’s game.

Drew’s back improves

J.D. Drew, who hasn’t played since Aug. 17 because of a herniated disk in his back, took batting practice and tracked down fly balls in the outfield yesterday.

Drew hadn’t performed those baseball activities on the same day since being knocked out of the lineup. Francona said Drew was hoping to return to the lineup in three or four days, but that timetable is by no means set in stone.

Big test for Aardsma

David Aardsma, the right-handed reliever who has been battling groin issues, will throw to hitters in early batting practice today. If that goes well, Francona said the Sox would figure how to bring Aardsma along so he can contribute out of the bullpen.

Aardsma last pitched on Aug. 20. He was placed on the disabled list on Aug. 23, his second stint on the DL in the last six weeks because of the groin strain.

Around the bases

Josh Beckett (elbow), Lowell (oblique) and Sean Casey (neck) were activated from the disabled list yesterday, giving the Sox 28 players on the active roster for last night’s game. … Marlon Byrd had to leave the game in the second inning because of a sprained left thumb, suffered in his unsuccessful diving attempt to catch Pedroia’s liner in the first.

skrasner@projo.com