Lowe On Facing Red Sox In Pinstripes: 'Not Trying To Stick It To Anyone'
BOSTON (CBS) - While the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry has had little luster this season, and their weekend series in the Bronx is even less enthralling, there is one story line that bears watching.
Well, at least paying attention to. Or not ignoring as much as the series itself.
Yankees reliever Derek Lowe will see his former team for the first time in his new pinstriped uniform this weekend. Lowe signed with New York four days ago, and is getting more and more accustomed to the Yankee-way by the day.
"It's getting more and more comfortable every day. I think the first time you walk in here can be a little intimidating," Lowe told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Jonny Miller on Friday. "I was fortunate to get in my first game here and pitch, so that kind of broke the ice and now we have the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry again."
Lowe pitched four innings in relief for the Yankees in their 8-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday, earning his first save since the 2003 postseason. He said there were multiple teams that contacted him following his release from the Indians, but the Yankees made the biggest push.
"You have to go to the best situation," the 39-year-old Lowe said. "In every situation I was going to pitch out of the bullpen, and these guys were the most proactive. That's why I'm here.
"You hope experience of pitching in playoff games, big markets will help," he said. "But my role is just to pitch when asked. I told Joe (Girardi) and Brian Cashman it doesn't matter what my role is, I'll be ready to pitch."
Lowe said following his release he would have loved to make a return to Boston. But although that wasn't how it worked out, he has nothing against the team he won the World Series with in 2004.
"I've already faced them this year," he said. "I want to beat them just as much as Texas or Chicago coming up. I may not pitch at all. I'm not trying to stick it to anybody."
Lowe didn't have much to say about the current turmoil his former team is in.
"Only those guys really know what's going on. I have a hard enough time keeping myself in check let along worry about other teams. You know way more than I do," he said to Miller.
