NEW YORK -- Mike Lowell (oblique) was able to hit off the tee Wednesday and felt good. The third baseman took some soft-toss yesterday; today it’ll be much of the same.

“The one thing with an oblique is you have to go slow,” manager Terry Francona said. “If you go too fast, then you’ll end up starting all over, and we can’t let that happen. So, [the medical staff] will have to sit on him. This is going to be a tough one.”

While the club played in Baltimore and Toronto during this current road trip, Lowell was back in Miami rehabbing with his personal trainer. Lowell’s hip flexor, which has been bothering him for much of the season, is still sore, but he said the oblique was getting better.

When he walked through the clubhouse with a bat in his hand, teammate David Ortiz yelled, “Mike Lowell is hitting today,” and others clapped.

-JOE McDONALD