Pregame notes

There is no need to be alarmed about the lack of J.D. Drew from the Red Sox lineup, although his ailing back did factor in to why he is sitting to start tonight’s game. Sox manager Terry Francona explained that Drew is sitting partly for health reasons, and partly for baseball reasons.

“It’s a little bit of both,” Francona said. “I talked to J.D. yesterday, and he’s doing pretty good. We talked about having back-to-back games. We talked for 10 minutes. If there’d have been a big fight, I probably would have played him. I don’t know. That may be incorrect.

“The other thing is, Coco [Crisp] has done pretty well against [Saunders]. So, I think it just makes some sense. We’ll have J.D. sitting over here with a bat in his hand. I just think this is the way our team has been the whole year. I don’t know that we’ve had [the same] nine guys play every game. I’m not sure that always makes us the best team.”

Francona indicated Drew would be available to pinch hit. Because of Drew’s back problem, Francona said he would give Drew plenty of advance notice.

-Crisp’s recent absence from the lineup had nothing to do with his foot, but “I don’t think until the season is over that’s going to feel good,” Francona said.

-Francona has not been going to Crisp as a defensive replacement for Jason Bay so far, and he won’t start doing that, either. Francona, first, believes Bay is a good outfielder (Bay hasn’t made an error with the Sox). Second, he believes it’s unnecessary.

“I think sometimes you can over-manage,” Francona said. “If there’s an obvious thing to do, we’ll do it. But getting into a close game, and all of a sudden, you make a move. Then all of a sudden, tie game. An inning later, you have no move.”

-Your obligatory Mike Lowell update: “I think he had a real good day yesterday,” Francona said. “It looked like he was moving around. It’s a little bit better than it was last week.”

-Dustin Pedroia is 0 for 8 in the ALDS so far. Last year, he admitted he tried to do too much in his first career playoffs appearance. Though the results have yet to come, that doesn’t seem to be the case now. He walked once in Game 1. In Game 2, he missed a home run by a few feet and ripped a liner straight at Howie Kendrick.

“I didn’t feel too bad about him last year,” Francona said. “Sometimes, playoff-type pitching … you’re not going to knock the cover off the ball. You get a mistake, you better hit it. You may not see it again.”

Francona has also noticed teams pitching Pedroia more carefully now than in the regular season, particularly earlier in the regular season. “He better be” pitched differently, Francona said. “He’s a known threat. Teams need to treat him like that. He’s one of the best players in the game.”