ARLINGTON, Texas — Mike Lowell strode to the plate in the second inning Friday night for his first at-bat since Aug. 12.

When he was forced out of the lineup that day because of an oblique strain, Lowell had been one of the team’s most productive hitters. He had 14 homers and 67 RBI in 101 games.

Timing can be an issue for any hitter who has been out of the lineup that long. It’s one thing to take swings in the indoor batting cage, and it’s another thing to take batting practice on the field. While those workouts help a player round into shape and help remove doubt that, in this case, the oblique injury hasn’t fully healed, they don’t replicate the speed and intensity of an actual game.

Lowell, though, hardly looked rusty. On his very first swing in a game in 24 days, Lowell clubbed a home run to left. By game’s end, Lowell had gone 3-for-5 with four RBI, falling a triple short of the cycle in the Red Sox’ 8-1 win.

“That was impressive,” said manager Terry Francona after the game. “I don’t know how he did it, a guy who was out that long. That’s not easy to do. That says a lot about how hard he worked on his rehab.”

“It was tough losing him,” said pitcher Josh Beckett, the prime beneficiary of Lowell’s offensive contributions Friday night. “He’s a middle-of-the-order guy.”

While the Red Sox basked in Lowell’s effect on the outcome Friday night in his first game back, there is even more for the team to look forward to than just that one-game boost.

Lowell is back and healthy enough, though still bothered by a nagging hip injury, to provide production in the middle of the order. But he isn’t the only hitter the Red Sox will be adding to fortify the lineup as Boston closes in on the first-place Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East.

Last night, cleanup hitter Kevin Youkilis, who had missed five of the previous six games because of various injuries, illnesses and personal issues, returned to the team. Youkilis, while hardly the Central Casting prototypical cleanup-hitter type, was leading the Red Sox in home runs (24) and RBI (94, eighth in the league), while also sporting a .315 batting average, which puts him fifth in the A.L. in that department.

And maybe in the not-too-distant future, right fielder J.D. Drew, who hasn’t played since Aug. 12 because of a herniated disk, could return for further depth in the batting order. Drew was talking about the possibility of appearing in the key series at home against the Rays, which begins tomorrow night.

Of course, despite the fact that Lowell and Drew have been out for a while, and Youkilis hasn’t been around for much of the last week, the Red Sox have been able to do better than tread water. The Red Sox had a chance to close to within 1½ games of the Rays when they played the Rangers last night.

The reason? Contributions up and down the lineup from players that wouldn’t necessarily have been considered to be offensive threats on a consistent basis. Jed Lowrie. Coco Crisp. Alex Cora. Jeff Bailey, Jacoby Ellsbury. All of those players have been sticking in clutch hits in helping Boston win 12 of 16 games prior to last night’s contest.

Those players have been adding to the contributions of newly acquired Jason Bay and Mark Kotsay, while David Ortiz has had his share of productive hits. And then, of course, there has been Dustin Pedroia, whose power and run-producing hits, especially in his four games as an unlikely cleanup hitter, has carried the Red Sox for more than a week on his not-so-broad shoulders.

While the regular starters are expected to produce, it is necessary for a team to have depth up and down the lineup, and what some of the Sox’ lesser-known offensive players have been doing has not gone unnoticed.

“Now is the time to talk about what guys like Lowrie have been doing,” said Beckett. “He came up, Mikey [Lowell] goes out and now he’s asked to play different positions [shortstop and third base] and he has done a great job.”

“A team needs to have guys like we have, who are able to step in when the starters go down,” said Youkilis. “I’ve always said it’s never 25 guys or one star on a team (that makes it successful). It’s everyone. A lot of players have stepped up and done a good job.”

“It’s nice to see Mike Lowell come back and hit a home run in his first at-bat,” said Youkilis. “That’s great for us. But I’m more excited about the guys who have filled in. You have to tip your cap to those guys.”

Offensive support from the bench players or call-ups. Starters beginning to get healthy and return.

It all bodes well for the Red Sox with 21 games left.

skrasner@projo.com