By BRENDAN MCGAIR

Sports writer

PAWTUCKET – Erring on the cautious side appears the route the Red Sox are taking with Jed Lowrie.
Tuesday marked the third straight game the rehabbing shortstop was absent from manager Ron Johnson’s lineup. The hope is, with today being a scheduled off day for the PawSox, that Lowrie can resume playing activity when first-place Scranton/Wilkes-Barre comes to town on Thursday.
Lowrie left Sunday’s Pawtucket contest in the fifth inning because of lingering knee discomfort. The injury stems from getting hit by pitch last Tuesday in Norfolk.
“It’s hard to talk about this because I don’t know the specifics from a medical end,” said Johnson. “I don’t want to make sound like it’s a major deal, but it’s nagging and irritating him.”
Lowrie was spotted making his way to the exercise room, where he jumped on a stationary bike. Since beginning his rehab assignment 10 days ago, Lowrie has appeared in five games, registering two hits in 10 at-bats.
Perhaps why the Red Sox don’t want to push Lowrie is that he came to Pawtucket with a firm purpose to test out his surgically repaired left wrist. The medical plate became a tad fuller when the cranky knee surfaced, which undoubtedly forced the Boston training staff to conjure up another plan.
“He’s trying to rehab one body part, so you don’t want him favoring another,” said Johnson. “Hopefully this thing clears up by Thursday and he can start getting some at-bats, I hope.”
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Like the players, Johnson was drained once Monday’s 14-inning marathon became official. Then came the news that Jeff Bailey was potentially on his way to Baltimore in wake of Mike Lowell’s hip injection.
Bailey departed for the Beltway Tuesday morning as an insurance policy. By the time he strolled into Camden Yards, he was added to the active roster.
“Everything was tentative until (yesterday),” said Johnson.
This marks the second time this season Bailey has been summoned to Boston. He was called up on April 22 to replace Rocco Baldelli and was optioned back to Pawtucket on June 2.
The choice to go with Bailey, as opposed to Chris Carter, who was on the Opening Day roster, makes sense given it’s a swap of right-handed batters. Lowell, a righty, is expected to be sidelined until after the All-Star break.
“Bailes has done a nice job against left-handed pitching,” said Johnson, noting the .368 average Bailey has posted against big-league southpaws in ’09.
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Mark Wagner’s first foray into Triple-A baseball featured enough of his imprints that you probably thought he caught several games. That’s how much of an impact the recent call-up registered Monday.
Syracuse wasted no time testing out Wagner’s cannon of a right arm, racking up seven stolen base attempts. Wagner, who gunned down 62 percent of opposing base stealers while with Portland, was successful on two occasions and came awfully close two nabbing two more Chiefs.
“Can’t say that many have tried [in one game], but it’s always fun because it gives you something to do,” said Wagner.
The game was rapidly approaching midnight when Wagner strolled to the plate with one down in the 14th. Concentration was at a premium at that point, but somehow the 25-year-old was alert enough to work a walk. Wagner eventually scored the game-winning run on Travis Denker’s double.
“It’s just one of those things when a lot of hard work and dedication pays off,” said Wagner, who went hitless in five tries. “It’s easy, especially in those late-inning situations, to lose your focus. You’ve got to find a way to get on base.”
Johnson mentioned he’s had some preliminary discussions with farm director Mike Hazen in relation to deploying Wagner and Dusty Brown behind the dish. It’s not often that the same minor-league rung houses two catching prospects of the skill set of Brown and Wagner, though Johnson can speak from experience on the matter. Last season the skipper tried to divvy up the chores between Brown and George Kottaras.
“I think it’s going to be more of a platoon thing; we’ll give each other a rest whenever it’s needed,” said Wagner. “It’s a tough position and you want to rest the body as much as you can."
One area Wagner plans to be concentrating on in the coming months is handling a knuckleballer. He figures to get plenty of chances thanks to the presence of Charlie Zink. Wagner has already taken the first step, which is acquiring an oversized mitt.
“Just broke out a new glove,” said the gregarious Wagner.