AL NOTEBOOK: LOWELL IS PAYING OFF FOR RED SOX.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA Staff Writer

Forced to take Mike Lowell and his inflated contract this offseason -- if they wanted to add Josh Beckett to the rotation -- it is the Boston Red Sox who now are cashing in.

The Red Sox opened play Friday with a half-game lead in the American League East and much of their early success is due to Lowell's career revival.

Lowell came over this offseason with Beckett from the Florida Marlins, who were in the midst of another fire sale. Shedding the contract of Beckett -- a desired commodity -- figured to be no problem, but getting Lowell off the books was going to be a bigger challenge.

So the Marlins packaged Lowell and Beckett and the pitching-hungry Red Sox took the bait.

Lowell had just eight home runs and 58 RBIs in 500 at-bats last season so taking on a player who was to make $9 million this season certainly was risky. But Lowell has rebounded to hit seven homers with 29 RBIs already this season in 186 at-bats. He also is batting .317.

``I'm just glad it's paying off now,'' Lowell told the Boston Herald this week. ``You want to reward the people that take a chance on you and also want to prove the people wrong who say you can't be a big-league player anymore. Those are motivating factors, no doubt.''

Lowell now has the last laugh at all those rumors last season that the reason for his downfall was that he no longer was on steroids. It seemed a logical leap since Lowell had 32 home runs and 105 RBIs in 2003 and 27homers with 83RBIs a year later.

``Everyone made the assumption,'' said Lowell, who currently is nursing a strained hamstring. ``But saying my success was built on one thing and one thing only hurt, because I've always prided myself on being a hard worker. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not on steroids but people thought I couldn't put up numbers without help.''

--A new approach: In the middle of a six-game losing streak last week, Seattle Mariners manager Mike Hargrove got desperate. With Richie Sexson ailing on a bad heel Hargrove revamped the lineup, putting struggling Adrian Beltre in the No. 2 spot.

A few days later, everything clicked. The Mariners pounded out 18 hits against the Texas Rangers -- 17 singles and a Raul Ibanez home run. It added up to a 14-5 victory.

``Moving (Beltre) from sixth to eighth (in the lineup), that's not much of a change,'' Hargrove told Seattle reporters. ``Sliding him down to the second spot, he'll see different pitches, have a different role.

``I've tried to be patient with our players, and some would say I've been too patient. I just thought it was time to change a few things.''

--Pep talk: The Baltimore Orioles' Kevin Millar (Hart High of Newhall) was trying to give his teammates a reality check last week, but most weren't inspired.

``Talk the game; be baseball players,'' Millar said after a poor series against the Angels. ``We're not here to collect paychecks, have rims and tires on our cars and dress (fancy). We're here to win baseball games. We've got to challenge each other, help each other and do that. I don't think that goes on enough ... That's the thing we lack.''

Said teammate Melvin Mora: ``I don't know what he's talking about.''

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