Red Sox reliever Justin Masterson reacts after getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning last night.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON –– Red Sox rookie shortstop Jed Lowrie entered last night’s game 6 for his last 36 during an 11-game stretch. He was hitting a lowly .186 in his previous 20 games to go from .318 to .272. Still, the Sox aren’t worried about Lowrie’s recent struggles.

He proved why they shouldn’t be last night.

Lowrie went . . .

“He’s still not swinging at a lot of balls, but he hasn’t found as many holes,” said manager Terry Francona. “He’s not panicking and I think it’s typical for a player to come up from the minor leagues and hit .320. Some of it is the law of averages and there were times we were able to hit him lower in the order, which was good. But out of necessity we had to move him up because of injuries and sickness.”

Francona says the organization is very patient with young players. The Red Sox want prospects in a position to succeed, but are cautious at the same time. In the meantime, Lowrie has been sound defensively.

Lowrie was called up from Pawtucket and has been the starting shortstop since Julio Lugo tore his quadriceps July 12.

Drew swings the bat

Red Sox outfielder J.D. Drew (herniated disk) said he’s feeling better and has been able to take BP the last two days. He was activated from the DL on Monday but has not yet played. Francona said there were no limitations for Drew and that he should be back in the lineup against the Blue Jays this weekend. He is hitting .280 with 19 homers and 64 RBI in 107 games this season.

Red-hot Crisp

Even though he has a season-high 11-game hit streak intact, Francona decided to give Coco Crisp last night off. But Crisp entered the game in the bottom of the seventh as a pinch-runner for Jason Varitek. During this streak he’s hitting .512 to raise his season average to .290. His hot bat and solid defense came at a critical time as the club has been battling injuries, mainly with Drew.

“Coco handled it,” said Francona. “He wanted to play really bad (last night). If I was Coco right now, I would want to play really bad. He’s handled it and that’s what we expect, but it also helps.”

Aardsma activated

Red Sox pitcher David Aardsma (groin) has been activated from the disabled list. The right-hander was not available last night, but he’s “ready to go” according to Francona. Aardsma worked a 1-2-3 fifth inning during a rehab for Lowell on Tuesday.

Share and share alike

Boston’s Kevin Youkilis and Baltimore’s Kevin Millar have more in common than you might think, and it has nothing to do with the fact they were once teammates in Boston. The pair of first basemen enjoy reaching base safely via hit, walk or hit by pitch.

When Youkilis was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the fourth inning last night, it increased his mark of reaching base to 44 consecutive games, the longest in the majors since Millar accumulated at 52-game run in 2007.

Ironically, Youkilis and Millar share baseball’s longest streak of reaching base safely, in 71 consecutive games. In 2003, Youkilis reached the mark when he split time between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket. Millar accomplished the feat in the minors from 1997 to 1999.

Byrd, Colon for twinbill

It’s not official yet, but Francona said yesterday that Paul Byrd would pitch the first game of the day/night doubleheader against the Blue Jays on Saturday, and Bartolo Colon would work the nightcap. Colon has spent most of the season rehabbing different injuries with the PawSox. The veteran right-hander was activated Tuesday. He’s 4-2 with a 4.09 ERA for Boston this season.

Fond farewell

During the middle of the fifth inning last night, the Red Sox honored two longtime baseball writers — The Journal’s Steven Krasner and The Boston Herald’s Jeff Horrigan. Last night was their last game on the beat and the Red Sox thanked them with a nice message on the scoreboard and with a press-box announcement. Former Red Sox player Brian Daubach, who was in attendance, came up to the press box to wish them both well.

Before the game, Red Sox senior adviser and Rhode Island native Jeremy Kapstein thanked them both for their years of dedication to the game of baseball.

“Steve has the respect of his peers and baseball executives for his several decades of service,” said Kapstein. “He is held in the highest regard for his professionalism and knowledge of the game.”

Krasner, who worked for 33 years at The Journal, has retired, and Horrigan is moving to Milwaukee.

jmcdonal@projo.com / skrasner@projo.com