The Red Sox and first baseman Nathaniel Lowe are in the final stages of a contract, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan . MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reported earlier that Lowe and the Sox were in discussions and were “ working on getting it done.” Lowe is represented by SportsMeter.

Not just another Yankees-Red Sox series, even. As far as regular-season series go, the stakes are about as high as they could be while the calendar is still in August, with the Yankees and Red Sox in the heat of a playoff race and about to play a four-game set that could go a long way in determining how the rest of the year plays out.