Lowell provides spark with baserunning, bat

BOSTON -- Mike Lowell has no illusions about why he is playing third base for the Boston Red Sox. It’s because of a money grab, really -- Boston had to grab the remaining two years of Lowell’s four-year, $32-million contract after Lowell’s shoddy 2005 season, or it couldn’t grab pitcher Josh Beckett from the Florida Marlins.

“I was the throw-in in the deal,” Lowell said of the trade that sent him and Beckett from Florida to Boston on Nov. 24, 2005. “They needed Josh Beckett. They needed a top right-handed pitcher, and I don’t think the Red Sox after 2005 were, like, Lowell has to be in that deal for us to take Beckett.”

Whether it was by luck or design, it was a steal for the Red Sox. Beckett has been every bit the ace Boston envisioned, and Lowell rebounded from 2005 (.236, eight home runs, 58 runs batted in) to hit .284 with 20 homers and 80 RBIs in 2006 and .324 with 21 homers and a team-leading 120 RBIs in 2007.

Lowell has carried that consistency into the postseason, batting .333 with one homer, six runs and 12 RBIs, and had another strong game Thursday night to help the Red Sox defeat Colorado, 2-1, in Game 2 of the World Series and take a 2-0 lead in the series.

Lowell had a hand in both Boston runs, walking with one out in the fourth, taking third with a headfirst dive into the bag on J.D. Drew’s single to right field and scoring on Jason Varitek’s sacrifice fly to tie the score, 1-1. In the fifth, Lowell drove in the eventual winning run with a two-out double down the left-field line.

“I think that’s part of him being modest, which is not such a bad thing,” Manager Terry Francona said in response to Lowell’s claim he was a throw-in in that 2005 deal. “He’s been a horse for us all year, consistent, and I mean consistent from day one driving in a lot of runs, playing third base. And today, his baserunning . . . he’s just a really good player and probably a better person.”

Lowell is not known for his speed, but his heads-up baserunning on Drew’s hit paid dividends.

“As I was going to second, I saw the angle, and J.D. squared the ball up so well that sometimes you get a spin where it goes more toward center field,” Lowell said. “I saw it go a little bit toward center and figured, hey man, it’s 1-0, there’s one out, I was going to go figuring it would take perfect throw to get me.

“It was a perfect throw [from right fielder Brad Hawpe], but I was fortunate to get in there. And Varitek did a good job to get the sacrifice fly. That pushed momentum toward our side and tied that game up.”

David Ortiz walked and Manny Ramirez singled with two out in the fifth, and Lowell’s RBI double to left knocked Colorado starter Ubaldo Jimenez out of the game. Relievers Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings, and the Red Sox headed to Colorado needing two wins for their second World Series championship in four years.

“We don’t want a letdown at all,” Lowell said. “Game 3 has to be a do-or-die game for us. We’ve had that mentality since the 3-1 deficit [to Cleveland in the American League championship series], and that’s the right mentality to have. We want to keep pushing forward.”

When the series is over, Lowell will be a free agent, and the Dodgers and Angels, along with the Red Sox, are expected to have interest in the veteran.

“Honestly, that’s the furthest thing from my mind right now,” Lowell said. “I don’t think there’s any point in dwelling on that.

“I’m ecstatic with the way we’re playing. We’re on the verge of winning the World Series. I’ll worry about that in a week or so.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com