BOSTON — The Red Sox placed third baseman Mike Lowell on the 15-day disabled list last night with a sprained left thumb.

He suffered the injury in the first inning Wednesday while making a diving play on a grounder against the Tigers and was removed from the game.

Lowell had an MRI yesterday afternoon and when he arrived at Fenway Park around 5:45 last night, he was sporting a removable cast.

To replace Lowell in the lineup, the Red Sox purchased the contract of infielder Jed Lowrie from Pawtucket.

“He’ll be in a splint for approximately a week,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “He needs to keep it immobilized for about a week. The hope is when the DL stint is over he’ll be able to play. It will all be determined on how it responds. Anybody that knows him knows he plays through all kinds of bumps and bruises. He has an extremely high pain threshold.”

Lowell was in the clubhouse following last night’s game and was clearly frustrated.

“I’m frustrated because I’m not going to be playing for a little while, but I think I was encouraged with the MRI that it wasn’t a complete tear of anything,” he said, adding that the affected ligament is not the same one he injured last season. “I think then it would have been significant time. . . . They want me to immobilize it for like four or five days before I do anything, so I think the smart thing was to go on the disabled list and we’ll take it from there. I’m hoping the swelling goes down a lot more in the next couple days. I’m really looking forward to waking up tomorrow and hopefully feeling better than today because I was a little disappointed this morning. I thought I was going to wake up a lot better and I didn’t.”

The Red Sox can find a positive in this since first baseman Kevin Youkilis was a third baseman by trade before the team switched him to the other side of the infield in 2006.

The Gold Glove winner can play third and newcomer Sean Casey brings a veteran presence at first.

In fact, Youkilis was outstanding defensively last night against the Tigers.

He assisted on the first three outs of the game, including a barehanded grab from behind the third-base bag before firing across the diamond to record the out.

Lowrie is versatile and can play second, short and third.

He was given a ton of playing time during spring training due to Julio Lugo’s back injury.

Lowrie proved during camp that he can be an everyday shortstop at the big-league level, and with a couple of different options in Pawtucket — veterans Joe Thurston and Keith Ginter — Red Sox management decided to go with the rookie.

jmcdonal@projo.com