FanHouse Red Sox

Just five games into his minor-league rehab stint at Triple-A Pawtucket, Jed Lowrie was hit by a pitch in the knee. He hasn't played since June 28 because of that, and his knee is still swollen and bruised. Not only has this setback slowed down his progress toward rejoining the Red Sox, but now the team has sent Lowrie back to Boston to have his knee examined by specialist Scott Waugh.

Lowrie was expected to miss six to eight weeks following wrist surgery in April. Prior to surgery, Lowrie played in five games getting only one hit in 18 at-bats.

The knee injury almost certainly assures that Lowrie will not rejoin the Red Sox, as originally, scheduled before the All-Star break.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Red Sox probably did not sleep well Tuesday night.

Boston held a nine-run lead in Baltimore with nine outs to go. Then the Orioles exploded for five runs on seven hits in the seventh inning and five runs on six hits in the eighth, handing Jonathan Papelbon his second blown save of the season. When George Sherrill struck out Jason Bay with two on in the top of the ninth, it finished off a wild 11-10 victory for the O's.

[Said Orioles manager Dave Trembley:] "It was the shootout at the OK Corral except it was Camden Yards."

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Complaining of stiffness and limited to only nine at-bats over the last week, Mike Lowell saw team doctors on Monday.

In the midst of injecting Mike Lowell with Synvisc to coat the joint in his surgically repaired hip yesterday, the Red Sox [team stats] medical staff also drained 15 ccs of fluid from the area.

While this procedure could have lended to Lowell playing by the weekend, the Red Sox decided instead to have Jeff Bailey join the team in Baltimore, and place Lowell on the 15-day disabled list.

Bailey has been slotted into the ninth spot in the batting order and will play first base Tuesday night, with Kevin Youkilis moving over the third base.

It hasn't been the greatest week for Cubs manager Lou Piniella. Not only is he feeling the heat of the Chicago media with the Cubs scuffling, but he's also gotten into an argument with Milton Bradley in which he called his right fielder a "piece of [expletive]." Regardless of whether the exchange should have ever left the clubhouse or not, it's not exactly the type of thing you want the world to know about.

All of this was done after a recent poll by Sports Illustrated in which Major League players were asked anonymously which manager in baseball they would least like to play for, and which one they'd most like to play for. Guess which one Sweet Lou emerged "victorious" in.

ATLANTA -- This isn't quite baseball's Hula Hoop, but it is close. In other words, the suddenly loud and colorful explosion throughout the universe for anything involving the Boston Red Sox is a fad.

It's just lasting longer than usual. So Red Sox fans should enjoy all of this before it is going, going, almost gone, because it is fleeting.

Here's the latest: The dominant color of the Atlanta Braves is blue, so you would expect their fans to dress accordingly. That said, when you studied the packed stands during each of the Braves' past three games inside of what had been a fairly barren Turner Field this season, there was nothing but red.

Red Sox red.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

"This concludes our test of the emergency attendance enhancement system. We now return to the regularly scheduled season."

Yes, the 13th season of interleague play wraps up Sunday, except for a Cubs-White Sox makeup game. We have survived six San Diego-Seattle games (that's more zeroes than an A-Rod paycheck).

We didn't learn much we didn't already know: the system has inherent flaws and the American League rules.

For the sixth straight year, the AL has had** the better record in interleague play – 129-108 going into today.

Take out Cleveland and Oakland, and the AL is 119-84.

"It probably is" as big a gap between leagues as in past years, one AL team official said, "until you get to the World Series. Then it doesn't matter."

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That Mike Napoli is one of the best power hitters you've never heard of. Napoli, the Angels catcher, blasted his 10th homer, a tie-breaking 428-foot shot in the ninth inning to lead the Angels to a 2-1 victory over the Diamondbacks. Later in the day, when the Rangers lost, the Angels moved alone into first for the first time all season.

The last time the Angels played in Arizona, in 2006, Napoli hit a 470-foot homer that is the third longest ever hit at Chase Field. Napoli has 56 homers in 890 big league at-bats. His ratio of one homer per 15.9 at-bats in the highest in big league history for any catcher with at least 50 homers, according to Stats LLC.

"He's got sick pop. He's got the most pop on this team by far," Angels starter John Lackey said. "I was actually in the clubhouse, telling the people about the one [in 2006]. People were up there eating [in the restaurant where Napoli's ball landed]."

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Jason Bay will soon be an American citizen. He aced his U.S. Citizenship exam, and as soon as he learns the secret American handshake and receives his key to the workout room, it will be a done deal.

Matt Snyder already posted a few (easy) citizenship exam questions. Plenty more are divulged in Saturday's Dugout, after the jump.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Phillies are grateful to be in the NL East.

The division got out-scored 37-7 on Friday as the AL East swept in interleague play. And it's only the rest of the division's mediocrity keeping Philadelphia in first by a half-game.

After their 11th loss in 13 games, 6-1 to the Blue Jays as Ricky Romero didn't allow a hit in the first six innings, the Phillies held a team meeting.

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Less than a week from now, Jason Bay will officially become a U.S. Citizen. He won't be abandoning his Canadian roots, though, as the Red Sox left fielder plans on maintaining citizenship to both countries (a.k.a. dual citizenship). July 2 is the exact date when Bay will become a member of the American family. The 30-year-old Bay was born and raised in Canada, but has been in the United States since heading off to college in 1997.

But that stuff is all boring. Let's get down the nitty gritty. The entrance exam. Bay was given 100 questions to study, a list from which he'd be given 10. He only needed to get six correct to qualify for citizenship. Here's a sample of four questions (thanks, WEEI Sports):