Lowell awaits word on next assignment

With his five-game rehab assignment behind him, Mike Lowell once again occupied a place in the Red Sox clubhouse. He did not, however, occupy a place on the roster.As time ticks down to today’s 4 p.m. trading deadline, the Sox were doing their best to find him a home. Until then, Lowell has to wait.“Just kind of told them to hang on for a day or so,’’ said manager Terry Francona, about the message from Theo Epstein to Lowell and his agents. “There’s possible movement. The deadline’s [today]. It just seems to make sense to get through another day or two days, and then do what we need to do.’’Lowell has been anticipating a trade since the Sox signed Adrian Beltre.“It’s been terrible,’’ he said. “I get four days to play and I did my job. It just answers the questions of what I’ve been saying all along: If I get consistent at-bats, I feel like I can produce. I definitely got really hot there. I’m not saying I can produce at that rate, but I know I can still swing the bat, so I think if anything that might add to the frustration.“I think if I would have gone 1 for 20, there would have been someone whispering in my ear, telling you maybe you really are not capable of doing it. But I never thought of it in that situation. Still makes you want to play.’’Lowell batted .500 with Pawtucket, hitting four home runs, four doubles, and 10 RBIs. He had a 1.727 OPS.“I think I’ve done everything I could have done in Pawtucket,’’ he said. “If there’s something out there, whether it’s our team or another team that they wanted to see more, there’s not any more left.’’Since David Ortiz turned his season around — he hit a grand slam in the ninth in last night’s 6-5 loss to the Tigers — Lowell has remained mostly on the bench. The Sox did not want to release Lowell, fearing he could catch on with another AL East club and hurt them.Lowell is not stressed over the deadline, where he’ll end up today — or whether he’ll be in the same position.Asked about his best option, Lowell said, “I think I’d be speculating if I said it, and I’d be pretty mean-spirited if it had anything to do with the Red Sox. Because how am I going to play any of the positions I play with David and Kevin [Youkilis] and Adrian doing a good job? I don’t think anything I can say Red Sox-related would seem unselfish.“At this point, I don’t know. I’ll kind of defer to hear what [Epstein] has to say, and we’ll go from there.’’Ellsbury Pawtucket-bound Jacoby Ellsbury also made an appearance in the Sox clubhouse yesterday, between his stops in Fort Myers, Fla., and Pawtucket. The outfielder is set to play for the PawSox today and tomorrow, before being evaluated. He’ll catch the PawSox just in time for today’s Jacoby Ellsbury bobblehead giveaway, smiling and saying that he’ll have to snag one for his mother for Christmas.Although Ellsbury said he didn’t know how many more games he might need to return to the lineup, he did say he’s “a lot better, [I] feel comfortable.“It’s kind of their timetable right now,’’ he said. “Just everything I’ve done has been on their timetable from the get-go. The at-bats in Fort Myers, they wanted me playing nine innings [Thursday]. I’m ahead of schedule on everything, so it’s kind of up to them. If they tell me to play four innings tomorrow, I’ll play four innings. If they tell me to play nine, I’ll play nine.’’There has been controversy about Ellsbury’s injury, with questions on both sides about the treatment of the five fractured ribs. But Ellsbury assured reporters that the relationship between him and the team remains good.“We’ve been on the same page for a while, the team, myself, everybody have been on the same page,’’ he said. “That’s why they sent me to Arizona, that’s why they sent me to Fort Myers. Everything’s been in their hands.’’He added, “I think if there’s anybody questioning, I think that’s false. The team and I, we’re in a great relationship. It’s just moving forward now.’’Ellsbury said that he’s comfortable knowing that he’s likely to have a little bit of discomfort for the rest of the season. “As long as I know I’m not going to hurt it worse, I’m ready to go.’’As for his teammates, and reported rifts with them, Ellsbury said, “They were all in favor. They wanted me to get healthy. They were wondering what I was doing six days after the injury taking batting practice.“They were like, ‘What are you doing?’ Every time I’ve come here, everybody’s happy to see me, and it’s just like where we left off.’’Pedroia on run Dustin Pedroia got his third CT scan on his fractured foot, with the Sox getting good news on the second baseman. Although there still is no timetable for his return, Pedroia did some running before last night’s game, running 90 feet 10 to 12 times. Pedroia also took ground balls in the infield.“It went real well,’’ Francona said. “It shows significant healing. Not healed, but good healing. More importantly, I think his exam went really well. So he’s got the go-ahead to start ramping up the running again.’’Pedroia had experienced discomfort earlier in the week while running in Anaheim, Calif. “It’ll be important to see how he bounces back [because] the idea is certainly to build, not to let him run out there for a couple days and then have it hurt,’’ said Francona. “He’s going to have to be really honest, because if it hurts, he needs to back off. But if it doesn’t, they have no problem with him continuing to progress.’’Varitek on mend Jason Varitek also had a CT scan on his fractured foot, and the Sox got more good news. Varitek is off his crutches, and walked to the bullpen without them before the game, with his equipment bag over his shoulder. Francona was told there was significant healing. Varitek will be out of his boot today, and will start doing as many baseball activities as he can tolerate. There’s no estimated date of return . . . J.D. Drew was scratched with an injured hamstring but pinch hit in the ninth and was intentionally walked. Jeremy Hermida took his place in right field . . . Eric Patterson was caught stealing in the seventh with the Sox trailing, 4-1. “Just trying to make something happen that probably wasn’t there,’’ Francona said. It was the third caught stealing of Patterson’s career. He has 22 steals in 25 attempts . . . The Sox are 17-17 in one-run games . . . Ortiz’s grand slam was the eighth of his Sox career (ninth overall), moving him into a tie with Bobby Doerr, Jim Rice, and Trot Nixon for third in team history. Ted Williams (17) and Rico Petrocelli (nine) are the only players to have more with the organization. It was the second straight game the Sox hit a grand slam (Marco Scutaro hit one Wednesday against the Angels) . . . Jon Lester lost his third straight, just the second time the Sox have lost three consecutive Lester starts, and the first time in his career he’s taken the loss in three consecutive starts . . . Tim Wakefield passed Dennis Eckersley to become the oldest pitcher to appear for the Sox at 43 years and 362 days.