Reinforcements needed?

PawSox may have to lend an outfielder

BALTIMORE - With a 3 p.m. start today, the Red Sox have a short time in which to decide whether another outfielder will be summoned from Pawtucket because of J.D. Drew's wrist injury and Coco Crisp's illness.

Kevin Youkilis finished last night's 5-4 loss to the Orioles in right field, a position he'd never played in the big leagues. If the Sox make a roster move without placing Drew on the disabled list, Craig Hansen has options left and could be returned temporarily to Pawtucket.

Brandon Moss would be the logical call-up, but he is recovering from an appendectomy. Jeff Bailey, who has played right field, hit his ninth home run last night. Joe Thurston was called up earlier this spring and went 0 for 8 in three games. Jonathan Van Every is playing center field for the PawSox, but a 40-man roster move would be required for him to come to Boston. Julio Lugo has played a handful of games in the outfield, but he's just recovering from a concussion.

Drew said he doesn't expect to play today, but if it's a short-term issue, the Sox may not have to do anything. X-rays were negative on the outfielder's left wrist after he bent it backward while attempting a shoestring catch of Freddie Bynum's liner in the third inning. Acting manager Brad Mills described it as a hyperextension.

"It's day to day right now," Drew said. "I rolled it pretty good. It's one of those plays you can't protect it. The ball hit the web of my glove, but when it jammed into the ground, my wrist went along with it."

Drew said an MRI might be required to check the ligaments if he continues to experience a "rotational issue" in the wrist. "That's what it takes to hit," he said.

Drew was one of the team's hottest hitters on this trip, hitting safely in seven straight games (.393, 11 for 28), including five hits in his previous two games. That streak ended when he reached on an error and lined to deep right in his two at-bats last night.

Jacoby Ellsbury has been struggling, going 1 for his last 13 and 5 for his last 28 in eight games.

Crisp, who singled and scored in the first inning after batting .412 (7 for 17) in his previous four games, was removed in the bottom of the sixth, with Ellsbury sliding to center, Sean Casey entering to play first, and Youkilis moving to right. Mills said Crisp might have had a migraine; it also had been described as an upset stomach.

Francona out for series

The hope for the Francona family, Mills said, was that Mary Ann Lang would live to see her grandson, Nick, graduate from the University of Pennsylvania. To see her granddaughter, Alyssa, play softball for the University of North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament. To see another granddaughter, Leah, graduate from Brookline High School.

All milestone moments, all happening in the next couple of weeks.

But last night, Terry Francona was absent from the Red Sox dugout. Lang, the mother of Francona's wife, Jacque, had succumbed to cancer, news the Sox manager received after Monday night's game in Minnesota. Francona flew with the team to Baltimore after that game, then caught a flight to Boston to retrieve his two youngest daughters, then planned to rendezvous with his other two children en route to Tucson to join his wife.

Mills has managed in Francona's absence before. After Francona was rushed to the hospital from Yankee Stadium during the second game of the 2005 season, Mills filled in for the next four. He managed three more games while Francona served a suspension later that season, and one more game when Alyssa Francona graduated from high school.

The Sox are 5-4 in games managed by Mills, who has been with Francona since they were teammates at the University of Arizona almost 28 years ago.

"It's never nice in this situation, under these circumstances," Mills said.

Nick Francona is scheduled to graduate from Penn Monday. Alyssa Francona's Tar Heels, ranked 13th in the country, are hosting an NCAA regional that opens tomorrow. Alyssa, a redshirt sophomore, started 55 games for a team that went 50-10-1, the first 50-win season in school history. Leah Francona's graduation from Brookline High is scheduled for June 1.

The plan is for the manager to return to the Sox in time for Friday night's game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Fenway Park. Funeral arrangements for his mother-in-law were pending.

Orioles not immune

The Orioles lost a starter during batting practice when third baseman Melvin Mora was struck in the right shoulder by a bad-hop grounder. Aubrey Huff, who had been scheduled to DH, played third and made an error on the first ball hit to him . . . Camden Yards would seem to be an inviting place for Manny Ramírez to hit the two home runs he needs to reach 500, but he has had just one two-homer game in his career here, and that came in 2000, when he was playing for the Indians. Since joining the Red Sox, Ramírez has hit just six home runs in Camden Yards, and in three of his first seven seasons with the Sox, he did not hit any long balls here. He had two in '01, one in '03, two in '05, and one in '06. Last season, he batted just .150 (3 for 20) in Camden Yards, though he had a single, walk, and double last night . . . Whatever disappointment Jed Lowrie felt in being sent back to Pawtucket was not reflected in his performance. Lowrie, who homered in his last game with Boston before being returned to Pawtucket, homered and singled in his first game back with the PawSox and also walked twice. Lowrie batted .310 in 17 games with Boston, and a return this season is certainly not out of the question.