As far as Carl Crawford was concerned, all systems were go Friday night when he played the first of two rehab games for the Pawtucket Red Sox against the Durham Bulls.
“The most important thing was being able to break out of the box like I normally can … to be able to move quickly without worrying about my hamstring,” Crawford said after playing five innings. “I had a few moments tonight where I was able to test it.”
One moment occurred in the third after Crawford drew a one-out walk and Ryan Lavarnway followed with a hit-and-run single.
“That felt good,” Crawford said. “That was a time I had chance to test it. I also had a chance to test it in the outfield.”
Crawford played left field, batted third and was 1-for-2.
He came to bat in the first against left-hander Alex Torres with PawSox on first and third and no out and dumped a broken-bat, RBI single into center.
After drawing that third-inning walk, Crawford came up in the fifth after Daniel Nava led with a single. Crawford hit a sharp grounder in the hole between third and short which resulted in Nava being forced on a throw by shortstop Ray Olmedo.
Crawford was placed on Boston’s disabled list June 18 after straining his left hamstring muscle while trying to beat out an infield hit the previous day against Milwaukee.
The reason Crawford only played five innings was that Boston didn’t want to push the envelope.
“We’re just trying to get my legs back under me right now,” he said. “We didn’t see the need to play nine innings. As long as I was able to do a few things that I can do when I’m in the big leagues, we thought that’s all I need to do.”
That plan should change Saturday when Crawford plays his second rehab game for Pawtucket.
“I want to try and do everything two days in a row to make sure there isn’t any pain,” he said. “After that happens, I’ll be ready to go.
“This is the first time I’ve had a hamstring injury so I definitely want to be careful with how I treat it. Unless something really bad happens in the morning, I hope to play nine innings.”
If Crawford emerges from his rehab assignment unscathed, he’s scheduled to join the Red Sox next Monday in Baltimore.
“Getting out here and seeing live pitching definitely helped me,” he said. “It was all about the timing. You had a lefty throwing pretty hard. I tried to see a few (pitches) and make the adjustments I needed to make from there.”