After crash, Drew again set to brave right field

Even though Eric Hinske's scintillating face-plant and catch in right field Thursday night seems to have replaced J.D. Drew's crash into the right-field wall as the replay du jour, Drew has seen his mishap about a hundred times, reliving the pain just a bit when the realization sets in that it's him bashing his back against the minimally padded surface.

After treatment at Fenway Park and at home, Drew was penciled into last night's Red Sox lineup against the Braves, before the rainout postponed his return until the first game of today's doubleheader.

"It's kind of the lower back and the hips where that big contusion's at, and the whole left side of my lower back's been pretty stiff," Drew said. "[I have to] try not to jeopardize it, do anything stupid. You get guarding going on in your lower back and you favor things, pull an ab muscle or something like that. Just trying to avoid anything major."

Drew said he did not believe the injury would linger. Rather he thought that with treatment (including some sauna work at home yesterday), he would try to loosen up the back. Tightness developed as Tuesday night's game against the Tigers wore on after he banged into the wall attempting to catch a Brandon Inge home run in the third inning. He was lifted after the seventh. Manager Terry Francona said he expected Drew to play in two of the three games against the Braves this weekend.

Regardless of the injury, things hadn't been going exactly the way Drew would have liked. His average has sunk to .250 after reaching .375 April 20. Since then, Drew is 12 for 72 (.167).

"Well, I think you've got to hit it where they ain't," Drew said. "It's one of those situations where you battle it out every day. You come in, you work on your swing. To be honest with you, I hadn't felt bad whatsoever. My [batting practice] rounds have been going well. I've been working with [hitting coach Dave Magadan]. There's really nothing to change.

"It's just a matter of hitting your pitch versus hitting their pitch a lot of times. Sometimes I wish I could foul off pitches I'm putting into play. Sometimes they make a good pitch on you; instead of fouling it off, you're hitting it, breaking your bat, hitting it right at somebody. Those kind of stack up on you."

Last night's game will be made up as the second game of the day-night doubleheader today. Tickets from last night's game will be good for the 7:35 game tonight. Daisuke Matsuzaka will take his original turn in the 1:05 game, opposing the Braves' Anthony Lerew. Devern Hansack will face John Smoltz in the nightcap. The rainout was the fourth of the season for the Red Sox . . . Before last season's misstep, the Braves had won their division a record 14 straight times. Though they won only one World Series, in 1995, they had maintained a record of success that seems to be resuming this season with Atlanta perched in second place in the National League East. Drew, who played for the Braves in 2004, posited that manager Bobby Cox has had a lot to do with the team's success. "Bobby does a great job," he said. "He's a great players' manager over there. To be completely honest with you, guys feel bad when they lose when you play for Bobby. You walk in, you lose a game, you kind of feel like you let Bobby down a little bit [because] he pulls for you so hard."

Manny Ramírez was not in the lineup last night. Francona said that was simply because Ramírez played 18 innings (though nine were as the designated hitter) in Thursday's doubleheader. "Manny actually offered, told David [Ortiz], 'I'll pick you up in the second game,' which was great," Francona said. "We don't really want three, four, and five of the lineup not in the game." . . . Josh Beckett (finger avulsion) threw in the cage yesterday, having been unable to throw outside because of the weather . . . With Jonathan Papelbon gaining strength in his shoulder after having his rookie season curtailed by a subluxation, Francona was asked if the added strength has manifested itself in his pitching. "I don't think it translated to him throwing 99 [miles per hour] instead of 96," Francona said. "I think the strength part is to ensure that he can go out there on a regular basis and throw with health. Beckett's done the same thing in his career. [Papelbon has] done a very good job. He's been consistent in his stuff when he goes out there. And if he can do that, he's a very good pitcher." . . . After starting the season slowly at Fenway, the Red Sox have won seven of their last nine, improving their home record to 14-6 . . . The Red Sox are the seventh team in major league history to lead their division by at least 9 1/2 games after 40 games or fewer. Most recently, Seattle led the AL West by 10 after 35 games in 2001 . . . Boston went 16-2 in interleague play last season and is 93-82 against NL teams. The Sox went 9-0 in Boston against the NL in 2006 . . . The Sox held screenings for skin cancer at Fenway yesterday for players and staff. Dustin Pedroia and his wife, Kelli, a survivor of melanoma, spoke before the rainout about working with the awareness program "Play Smart When It Comes To The Sun" . . . As Kevin Youkilis walked out of the clubhouse after the postponement was announced, he took a look at the lineup card on the wall. "I was hitting cleanup?" he said good-naturedly. "No wonder they called the [expletive] game."