ATLANTA –– Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell was out of Friday’s lineup because of soreness in his surgically repaired hip.

Lowell says the hip has felt tight, and there’s been discussion with the club’s medical staff about whether or not he’ll receive an injection to help. Lowell said it doesn’t hurt to swing, only when he takes the first step out of the batter’s box and begins running.

Lowell dealt with a hip issue for the majority of last season. It caused him to cut his postseason short when it was decided that the pain was too much to handle and that he was not helping the team. He had surgery in November.

It’s a possibility Lowell will miss the next few games.

“Obviously I’m not starting today, and we’ll see through this weekend, see what we do,” said Lowell before Friday’s game. “I guess it’s how I wake up tomorrow, but honestly I’m not predicting a miraculous, like, I feel 100 percent tomorrow morning.”

Lowell has lost a step on the base paths and has shown a little less range at third, but he’s hit well for most of the season, despite a recent slump. He has a .283 average with 10 homers and 41 RBI in 67 games.

The hip flared up on Lowell in the last week, after he woke up one morning and it felt very tight. He attempted to play through it, but it hasn’t gone away. He spoke with the surgeon who operated on the hip last year, Dr. Bryan Kelly, and Lowell was told he is dealing with a normal issue and that there isn’t anything structurally wrong.

“I think that’s frustrating. I think I take confidence in them saying it’s something they expected. If this kind of caught them off-guard, I think I’d be more on the worried side than on the frustrated side,” he said.

Lowell said the discomfort he’s feeling is not as serious as what he was dealing with last season.

“I can compare the tightness to it. I don’t have the super-sharp sensation that I had last year … especially the check swing, which was the worst. I never felt that. I think if I did, we’d have major problems, because that’s the part that we fixed with the surgery," said Lowell.

The last thing Lowell wants to think about at this point is a trip to the disabled list.

“I don’t know, I hope not,” he said. “I’ve got to believe one of the things that we talked to [team medical director Dr. Thomas Gill] about was some kind of Synvisc shot that kind of coats the whole joint. I spoke to Brad Mills, I think he had one in his knee and he said he felt great the day after. I’m hoping that’s the case for me. If I have to do that and take two days off, great, maybe we got over the hump. I’m kind of in wait-and-see."

Magadan sits

Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan on Friday night served a one-game suspension that resulted from his actions during Wednesday’s game in Washington.

Magadan was ejected for arguing balls and strikes, but the suspension is because he left the dugout after he was thrown out. When a coach leaves the dugout, it’s an automatic one-game suspension. He can work with the hitters until game time, but he can not be on the bench for the game.

jmcdonal@projo.com