BOSTON — Mike Lowell’s cell phone rang after the Red Sox dispatched the New York Yankees yesterday at Fenway Park. On the other end of the line was New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, asking if Lowell wanted to be a two-sport athlete.

OK, so that really didn’t happen. But, on a day when most would expect something to carry over from Friday’s game where Kevin Youkilis almost had his head taken off by a pitch from Yankee reliever Scott Proctor, Lowell would be the last one you would expect to make the most noise.

It’s not like he was trying to injure anyone; he just plays the game all-out all the time, with an old-school style.

In the end, the Red Sox pulled out a dramatic 11-6 come-from-behind victory over the Yankees to even this three-game set at a game apiece.

“It was like a football game,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “With the rain delay, the national broadcast and us playing the Yankees, I think everybody leaves the game mentally and physically exhausted — the coaches, the players, the umpires — it was just hard baseball.”

Lowell had himself an interesting afternoon.

Besides his 3-for-4 performance with four RBI, the Red Sox third baseman drove Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano into the ground between first and second with a shoulder block while attempting to break up a double play in the fourth inning.

The move, which was unsuccessful because Cano somehow got the throw off for the DP, was just Lowell playing hard-nosed baseball. There was nothing malicious about it.

Yankee manager Joe Torre, Francona and Lowell said the play was clean. Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who had a good look at the play, said that’s how the game should be played.

“That’s fine,” he said. “Anytime you go to tag a runner, you’re fair game. It’s like a play at the plate — as a runner you have to try to brace yourself.”

After Lowell hit a solo home run to lead off the sixth inning, he followed that up with a teeth-shattering collision with Yankees first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz in the bottom of the seventh inning. Lowell was trying to beat out a double-play throw from Yankees’ Derek Jeter, who one-hopped the ball to Mientkiewicz when the collision happened.

“I feel bad for Doug,” said Lowell. “You don’t want anything like that to happen to him. We go way back. I played against him in high school and I have a lot of respect for him. … I wanted to say something, but they were being so careful with him, holding his neck. I’m not going to go over and tap him on the leg when he’s on the cart. I’ll be in contact with him. He knows me well enough.”

Mientkiewicz took a knee to the back of the head that knocked him back to the 2004 World Series. He was treated by team trainers before he was taken off the field on a medical cart. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where tests revealed a mild concussion, cervical sprain and a fractured bone in his right wrist. He spent the night in the hospital for observation.

“He got his bell rung pretty good,” said Torre. “He was dazed for a while, but he started to be more aware towards the end. It’s frightening.”

From running guys over, to starting two double plays and making bare-handed plays, Lowell seemed like a man possessed.

“He had a good game,” said Ortiz. “We need guys who can hit like that. That’s how we do it here. That’s how we roll.”

Lowell has now hit safely in 19 of his last 22 games and is hitting .395 during that stretch, including 8 doubles, 7 homers, 24 RBI and 16 runs scored from the No. 6 spot in the order.

“We talked about it all spring and we knew that spot would be big because there would be base runners all the time,” said Francona.

What makes Lowell’s performance yesterday even more impressive was the fact he was drilled on the top of the left hand by a pitch during Friday’s game, and had to leave for precautionary reasons. But he was back in the lineup yesterday.

“He was sore,” said Francona, “but he got himself ready to play and play effectively, more than effectively.”

jmcdonald@projo.com