The initial fear was that the Sox left fielder, whose speed and athleticism are a big part of his game, would require time on the disabled list.

Yesterday, those fears were confirmed when manager Terry Francona announced Crawford had been placed on the 15-day DL with a hamstring strain and that outfielder Josh Reddick had been recalled from Triple A Pawtucket.

Crawford immediately departed the game, and underwent an MRI that revealed a Grade 1 strain — the least severe.

But the team took no chances and placed Crawford on the DL.

“It’s never a good thing to go on the disabled list, but you just have to do what you have to do,’’ said Crawford, who became the second player in as many games to be shelved after shortstop Jed Lowrie went on the 15-day DL Friday with a left shoulder strain.

Crawford said it was the first time he had ever had a hamstring injury.

“It’s the second time I’ve been on the DL in my whole career, so it’s something I’m going to have to deal with,’’ said Crawford, who spent six weeks on the DL with a torn ligament in his right middle finger in 2008.

“We just have to hope that things heal quick.’’

Given the nature of the injury, Crawford said he would proceed cautiously.

“A hamstring injury, you don’t want to mess around with that,’’ he said. “You see a lot of guys who come back too early and they mess it up and they wind up being out even longer.

“I just want to make sure that when I come back that I stay there. I definitely don’t want this to be lingering.’’

Reddick’s call-up gave the Sox outfield depth. Last night, however, Francona penciled in Darnell McDonald as his left fielder. He went 0 for 3 out of the No. 6 spot.

McDonald, who came off the DL June 14 with a left quadriceps strain, was summoned to pinch run for Crawford Friday and remained in the game.

“[McDonald] got banged up a little bit and he went down to Triple A and we tried to use that to our advantage a little bit,’’ Francona said. “He got consistent at-bats and, through no fault of his own, he wasn’t playing very much.

“Now he gets a chance to go play, which he probably will a little bit, and he’s got a better chance to be the type of player that he was last year.’’

McDonald was joined in the outfield last night by center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron.

“We’ll probably fill in with Mac, Cam, Josh, and maybe a little [Drew] Sutton,’’ Francona said. “We’ll probably be more left than right, but we’ll see and we’ll piece it together.’’

McDonald’s role will likely be expanded.

“You just have to be ready, that’s all you can do,’’ McDonald said. “Hopefully Carl’s not going to be out too long. Carl’s a big part of this team. With me, I’m just going to be ready every day.

“We have a lot of great players around here, so we just have to continue to focus on playing good baseball.’’

McDonald hit .345 in nine rehab games at Pawtucket, going 10 for 29 with three doubles, a pair of homers, 11 RBIs, and six runs.

“I was really focusing on having quality at-bats and putting a good swing on the baseball,’’ he said. “The only thing is the balls that were falling down there weren’t falling up here.

“But I just focus on the process and the process is the work you put in before the game. And when the game comes you just focus on putting good swings on the baseball.’’

Youkilis back in Kevin Youkilis, who singled in a pair of runs Friday night before departing in the fourth with a stomach ailment Francona termed “intestinal turmoil,’’ was back in the lineup.

Youkilis, who said he had a touch of food poisoning, appeared back in form after doubling to left in his first at-bat and then scoring Boston’s first run on Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s single to left. Youkilis also singled in the third.

“I think we were prepared to have him show up today and not be ready to play,’’ Francona said. “But he kind of rallied, which was good.’’

Mistake pitches Adrian Gonzalez was charged with his first error of the season. Gonzalez attempted to snare Rickie Weeks’s foul pop near the Sox dugout, but failed to make the catch.

It was ruled “no play’’ by the official scorer, who quickly changed it to an error after Weeks hit a leadoff homer off Jon Lester. The next batter, Corey Hart, also homered. A third-inning leadoff homer by George Kottaras matched the season-high three homers Lester allowed in a 9-5 loss at Texas Opening Day.

Riding for cause It was Pan-Mass Challenge Night at Fenway Park. Thirty-two cancer survivors rode a lap around the warning track before the game in recognition of the 32d annual 190-mile charity bike trek Aug. 6-7 to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Stacey Lucchino, wife of Sox president Larry Lucchino, Jacqui Francona, the manager’s wife, Tiffany Ortiz, wife of DH David Ortiz, and John Gilula will partner on the Red Sox-sponsored Team 9 along with pedal partner Bennett Hartley, a leukemia patient who gave the command “Play Ball.’’ Zak Kraft, a cancer patient and son of PMC rider Barry Kraft, threw out the first pitch, and Denise DeSimone, a cancer survivor and PMC rider, sang the national anthem . . . Before yesterday’s Duck Boat parade for the Stanley Cup champion Bruins, coach Claude Julien acknowledged his professional brethren for their support, citing Francona, Patriots coach Bill Belichick, and Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “It’s a good thing that I did call him, otherwise I would’ve been left out,’’ Francona joked. “I don’t know Claude very well, but I don’t want to jump in on their parade now. The little that I see, I like the way he handles himself and I respect it, so I just gave him a call. It’s not like we’re dinner buddies or anything like that. This is their time to shine and I don’t need to be horning in on their stuff.’’ The Sox will recognize the Stanley Cup champions before the start of today’s 1:35 game.

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.