BOSTON -- Red Sox first baseman/third baseman Kevin Youkilis is normally pretty good about taking his base when he’s drilled somewhere on his brick house body with a thrown baseball. Youkilis has been plunked with 52 pitches in his big league career, and puts himself close to harms way when he snuggles up with the inside portion of the plate.

It’s something of an occupational hazard for the bearded slugger, but several things about Tuesday night’s incident – one that ended with Youkilis sprinting out toward the pitcher’s mound in a fit of pique before firing his batting helmet at Detroit hurler Rick Porcello – were quite different from the norm.

Down 3-0 in the second inning, Youkilis sparked his team by charging Detroit starter Rick Porcello on the mound after he was hit between the numbers with the first fastball of the inning. Mike Lowell replaced Youkilis at third base following his ejection, and hit a pair of home runs that helped lead Boston to a victory – becoming the first Sox player to come off the bench and blast a pair of home runs since Joe Foy did it for the Impossible Dream Red Sox back in 1967.

Lowell has been relegated to a bit more bench duty as of late following the trade for Victor Martinez, but the veteran third baseman made a big statement with three runs and three RBIs in the 5-2 victory over the Tigers.

“It at least feels good that I’m swinging a good bat. I don’t know why you wouldn’t want good bats in your lineup,” said Lowell. “When you’re swinging the bat well, I think you want to play every day. I stand by that.”

Getting back to Youkilis, the big first baseman was drilled the night before by Detroit right-hander Edwin Jackson, and Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera was banged in the wrist with a pitch Tuesday night during the top of the second inning. So, of course, Youkilis was drilled right between the numbers with the first pitch from Porcello in the bottom of the second frame.

Youkilis said following the game that there was clear “intent” behind the actions of both pitchers during the first two nights of the series, but there was also a clear sense of regret by the corner infielder at the message that rushing the mound sends.

“I definitely regret it being that it’s on TV and there are kids out there, and that’s definitely not the way you should handle it,” said Youkilis. “But there comes a point in your life where you have to protect yourself, and you can’t continue to keep getting hit up there.”

Both Youkilis and Sox skipper Terry Francona seemed to grudgingly admit that a suspension is likely forthcoming after the first baseman charged the mound and fired his helmet at Porcello in the process. The good news for the Sox: any absence by Youkilis can be at least partly absorbed by the depth that Victor Martinez, Mike Lowell, David Ortiz and Casey Kotchman will provide.

“I’m sure something will happen,” said Sox manager Terry Francona. “We’ll just wait and see. Youk’s a really good player and his versatility makes him even better for us. But we have guys (to fill in), we should be able to do this. You don’t want to lose any players, but I’m sure something will happen.”

Here’s Youk’s full reaction following Fight Night at Fenway:

Any regrets about it at this point?
Youk: I definitely it being that it was on TV and the kids could see it. That’s definitely not the way to handle it. But there comes a point in your life where you have to protect yourself, and you can’t keep getting hit up there.

What about any consequences for this?
Youk: That’s something that we’ll have to come across tomorrow.

What about the job that Mike (Lowell) did?
Youk: If I knew that I’d come down with an injury if I knew a guy was going to hit two home runs. It was great that the guys picked me up and JBay hit that three-run homer. It was awesome just to sit back. I don’t like to sit back in the clubhouse and watch, but it was awesome to see us win.

Were you conscious of throwing the helmet when you went out there?
Youk: No. Basically everything just happened so fast that you don’t know what you’re doing.

What about the notion that something like this could fire the team up?
Youk: If that’s what the guys say and it got the team going, but hopefully I don’t ever have to do that again to get things going. Hopefully I can do it playing the game of baseball. It happens in baseball sometimes, but hopefully this is the last time it ever happens. 

Do you any theories as to why you’re in the middle of these things sometimes?
Youk: Ah…getting hit by pitches? This is the first time I’ve ever done that in my life. Guys pitch inside and there are times (I get hit). But these last two days were different. There was intent there to hit.

Did you have any words with this guy when you were rolling around out there?
Youk: Ahhh…no. Not really any English 101 kind of conversations. Everything happened so quick that I wasn’t really understanding what was going on with the words or anything?

Did you have any idea of what you were going to do when you went out there?
Youk: I don’t think there’s any plan. If I was an ultimate fighter then maybe I’d have a plan, but I wasn’t planning on going out there. I was planning on having a good at bat and try to get on base. I got on base, but it wasn’t the way that I would have liked it.

Did you talk to Terry about it afterward?
Youk: It was one of those things where he understood. Hopefully it doesn’t hurt the team when I get suspended. I know it’s going to happen, but we’ve got plenty of guys around here that can fill in and do a good job.