The gemara2 says that one who sees לוט (Lot) says ברוך זוכר את הצדיקים, blessed are You who remembers the righteous (because Hashem remembered Avraham as it was in his merit that Hashem rescued Lot). R' Yochanan said that even at a time of His anger, He remembers the righteous, as it says ויזכר אלה-ים את אברהם וישלח את לוט מתוך ההפכה, Hashem remembered Avraham so He sent Lot from amidst the upheaval (the destruction of Sodom).3 Lot was saved because of Avraham so why do we say upon seeing Lot ברוך זוכר את הצדיקים and not ברוך זוכר את אברהם?
The Arizal4 says that within Lot’s soul were contained the souls of Rus Ha’moaviyah and Naamah Ha’amonis who descended from his two daughters. The soul of Rava was contained within Naamah Ha’amonis.5 R' Meir Bikayam6 explained based on this that Lot's salvation was not due to his own merit, but rather because the souls of Rus and Na'amah were destined to emerge from him, as well as the soul of Rava. Therefore, upon seeing him, one says ברוך זוכר את הצדיקים, meaning not Avraham, but rather the souls of the righteous that were hidden within Lot, whom Hashem remembered, and for whose sake He brought Lot out of the upheaval.
Accordingly, this is the explanation in ויזכר אלה-ים את אברהם וישלח את לוט מתוך ההפכה, that Hashem remembered that Avraham’s soul, too, had been sunk in the depths of the kelipos, forces of impurity, and nevertheless Hashem brought him out from Terach. So too He sent Lot out from the upheaval, since the souls of Rus, Na'amah and Rava were destined to emerge from him as well.
