Lowell, with a high tolerance for pain, managed to power his way through a sprained left thumb last season and missed only a handful of games, but doctors painted a two- to four-week recovery time as a best-case scenario.

The injury prompted the Sox to call infield prospect Jed Lowrie up from Class AAA Pawtucket, and that should mean more immediate playing time for Kevin Youkilis at third base and Sean Casey at first. While both Youkilis and Casey are considered above-average defensively, the injury removes a middle-of-the-order bat from the lineup and breaks up Gold Glove bookends at first and third.

"He'll be in a splint for approximately a week, and the hope is that when the DL stint is over that he can play," manager Terry Francona said. "Anybody that knows him knows that he plays through a lot of bumps and bruises."

Francona, Sox general manager Theo Epstein and medical director Thomas Gill met roughly 90 minutes prior to Thursday night's game and opted to disable Lowell.

The reigning World Series MVP was last on the disabled list in 2003 with the Florida Marlins, and the troublesome left thumb was the culprit then, too.

RED SOX 12, TIGERS 6: Tim Wakefield pitched a topsy-turvy five innings that featured five walks, five strikeouts and two hit batsmen, but the venerable knuckleballer also scattered two runs on two hits in nailing down his first win. J.D. Drew continued his red-hot stretch at the plate with three hits, and Manny Ramirez broke the game open with a two-run double in the seventh inning.