Injury worries Lugo

He'll have MRI on quadriceps

Julio Lugo limped out of the back room in the Red Sox clubhouse long after most of his teammates had left. Under his jeans, his left quadriceps was wrapped tightly, the swelling and the pain intensifying. There was no question regarding the agony in his expression.

"I'm real worried," Lugo said. "Because I know it wasn't something that just pulled, when you pull a muscle. I felt something that popped, and that's what worries me."

The injury occurred as Lugo ran to first base on an infield single in the ninth inning of the 7-3 loss to the Orioles last night. Then he stumbled over the bag to the ground and was helped off the field, replaced by Alex Cora. It looked bad when it happened, and about an hour later, it almost looked worse.

"I think he did it pretty good," manager Terry Francona said. "We'll get him looked at, but I think there's a chance that he didn't just strain this."

Added first base coach Luis Alicea, closest to Lugo when he was hurt, "I just heard him scream. I knew something happened right away. He was grabbing his quad."

Lugo is scheduled for an MRI today.

The Sox have capable replacements in Cora and Triple A shortstop Jed Lowrie, who made his major league debut earlier this season when Mike Lowell was on the disabled list. Lowrie played in 17 games with the Sox, hitting .310 in 42 at-bats. With the PawSox, Lowrie has hit .273, but just .200 in July.

The injury wasn't the only big play involving Lugo. First base umpire Doug Eddings ruled Lugo was out at first in the second inning. On some replays, the ball was barely in the picture when Lugo stepped on the bag. As Francona said, "I didn't think it was a very good call."

"If you're looking at the feet, it looked a lot closer," Alicea said. "It's just one of those things where he missed it. Sometimes they miss it."

Done at 17

Dustin Pedroia and the Orioles' Nick Markakis had their career-high 17-game hitting streaks snapped. "I'm not here to break any hitting streak records," Pedroia said. "I'm here to help the team win baseball games." Pedroia did walk twice, ending a run of eight games without a free pass . . . The Sox fell below .500 (18-19) against American League East opponents . . . Brandon Moss had two hits, both against lefthander Brian Burres, and is 8 for 19 (.421) in his last six games.

Casey keeps hitting

It was almost on cue. With Lowell on first and no outs in the second inning last night, Sean Casey rifled a double to right field, the ball ticking off the hands of a fan in the front row in the corner.

"He just is a hitting machine," Jason Varitek said Wednesday after Casey went 3 for 5 against the Twins. "I hope that people understand what a teammate this guy is, how funny he is, how professional he is. He's just a joy to have on our team."

After going 1 for 4, Casey is hitting .367, the best average in the American League by a player with at least 100 at-bats.

He was the Red Sox' designated hitter, where he'll likely get some more at-bats with David Ortiz (left wrist) out and Manny Ramírez (hamstring) healthy enough to play left field. Casey is hitting .386 his last 35 games, and got his first RBI since April 20 (23 games) Wednesday. And he understands his role, even if it might be frustrating not to be a starter, which Casey had been for most of his career.

"Sometimes when guys have the right to go somewhere, knowing how it may be helps," Francona said. "He's as solid a person you're ever going to see. And, you know what, maybe he's at a point in his career where if he's not playing every day, his batting average will be higher. He's not playing with the nicks he's played with his whole career. You go out there and take your 0-fer because you're beat up.

"Now I certainly think I wish he had more at-bats. Because of Manny's hamstring, it's not been an issue. We can't put [Casey] out there as much as we want to. He understands that. Any time something goes wrong with somebody, you put [Casey's] bat in the lineup, it's a nice feeling."

Drew ailing

Even with Thursday's offday, J.D. Drew's back didn't improve enough for him to get in the starting lineup. Moss started in right field. Drew came out of Tuesday's game against the Twins because of stiffness, didn't play Wednesday, but thought he would be well enough for last night's game against the Orioles. "Little stiff, not too bad," Drew said. "Much better today. Probably a day away, just to be on the safe side. [It started] about the sixth inning the other night. Just broke on a ball [defensively] and kind of tweaked it a little bit. Stiffened up a bit as the game went along." Drew tried to stay in the game to keep Coco Crisp from having to play, but he had to be replaced in the ninth . . . Francona revealed that Crisp is experiencing forearm soreness. The center fielder has not started since Monday. "His forearm's a little beat up," Francona said. "It sounds crazy, but between the diving and the running into walls, he's just a little beat up. When you couple that with who's pitching [Burres], some of the numbers, sometimes it doesn't make sense." Crisp is hitless in his last 14 at-bats.

Ordering out

Sitting in the back of the clubhouse, Ramírez looked up at the television and saw himself being discussed on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption." The picture was of Ramírez with a cellphone in the Green Monster from Wednesday's game. "Pizza Hut," he said jokingly. Ramírez added that he was using Cora's cellphone. Cora just smiled . . . Justin Masterson had his first outing in Triple A as a reliever Thursday night, throwing a 1-2-3 inning against Norwich. It was his first appearance out of the bullpen since 2006, when all 14 of his outings for short-season Single A Lowell came in relief. Masterson is being groomed for a bullpen role with the big club . . . The Sox have feasted on lefthanded starters this season, despite last night's loss to Burres. Lefthanders are 2-8 with a 5.78 ERA in their last 13 starts against the Sox . . . Francona again said the Sox rotation for the first series after the All-Star break, starting Friday against the Angels in Anaheim, Calif., will be announced tomorrow. The Sox want to get through the weekend before revealing the starters . . . Jonathan Papelbon is one save from recording 100 for his career, which would make him the third Sox reliever to get to triple digits in his Boston career. The others are Bob Stanley (132) and Dick Radatz (104). Papelbon got his 99th save in his 175th career appearance. The only American League pitcher with more saves in his first 175 outings is Kazuhiro Sasaki, who had 111 with Seattle in that time. Sasaki got to save No. 100 in his 160th game . . . With the start of football camp at the University of Tennessee rapidly approaching, the Red Sox remain confident they will sign first-round pick Casey Kelly, despite the allure of playing quarterback for the Volunteers. Though the deadline to sign draft picks is Aug. 15, Kelly must be signed before he reports to Tennessee later this month.

Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com.