Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell has hit at a .381 clip since coming off the 15-day disabled list just after the All-Star break, but the veteran corner infielder found himself out of the starting lineup for the second consecutive game on Monday night's series opener against the A's. Sox manager Terry Francona said that the acquisition of Adam LaRoche would allow him to rest Lowell and his still-healing hip coming down the stretch, but both Francona and Lowell said he was physically fine prior to Monday's game.

Instead Lowell sits with LaRoche at first and Kevn Youkilis at third base. The new guy LaRoche has hit well in his first couple of games at Fenway Park, and Lowell will get his ABs with a couple of left-handed starters coming up on the schedule in Brett Anderson on Wednesday and Gio Gonzalez on Thursday. Here's a quick Q&A with Lowell about two straight games on the bench -- a strange place for a guy that routinely hears Iron Man play at the Fens when he strides up to the plate.

How do you feel? ML: I feel great. I feel really good. I can’t really complain about the way I feel. I’m just trying to get myself ready to play and that’s what I’m doing.”

Kind of surprised when you saw the lineup card today and you weren’t in the lineup? ML: No, I got a text message yesterday. I think we’re trying to find what’s the best combination for us to win ballgames, and I should be satisfied that I’ve been hitting the ball well since I back after the All-star break. I’ve got to believe you want to put as many guys in the lineup as you can to score as many runs as you can. So we’ll see how things play out.

For 10 years you’ve come to the ballpark knowing your name is in the lineup, so how much of an adjustment is it when it’s not in there? ML: It’s not (an adjustment) because it’s only been two games. We’re going to see how it goes, but if we keep going like this there’s going to be major changes in the lineup. We’ve got to start swinging the bats and we’ve got to start scoring runs. I don’t think anything is etched in stone. I was told that I was going to get more days off.

Like I’ve said in the past ‘winning determines who plays in the games’. We’ve got to win some games. It’s that simple. What we’re doing is not winning whether it’s one aspect or another. We’ve got to find the right combination. We’re all on the same page on that.

When the trade was made was there a sense there could be a change in how playing time was allocated? ML: Well, I was told that they were going (after) someone to give them the flexibility to give me more days off than normal, and I told Theo I can’t argue with that philosophy. The guy has been here 3 days.

I’m not going to worry about anything right now. We’ll see how things go, but the world isn’t coming to an end. I’m much more concerned that we’re playing (badly) against teams that we should be playing much better against. That’s not a one man thing. That’s a 25 man thing.

What is this week like for you guys when it comes to the trade deadline? ML: I think most guys, unless their name is specifically involved, kind of read like everyone else. I think there are a lot of smoke and mirrors and people jockeying for position. In the case of Roy Halladay, how much are they really putting out there? Reject this offer and that offer and make teams pony up a lot more.
 
I think there’s a lot of backdoor action going on, but I think that’s kind of exciting to see who is going to try and make a big splash.
Aside from last year, we’ve done some things here and there to try and improve the team. Some things have worked and some things haven’t. The trade on July 31 isn’t always the answer. Everyone gets kind of hyped up because it’s the trade deadline, but more so than not it doesn’t pan out as this franchise-changing move. So we’ll see.