Red Sox right fielder J.D. Drew was back in the swing of things last night at Fenway Park after missing more than a month because of a herniated disk.

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

BOSTON — It is a good thing, as far as J.D. Drew is concerned, that the American League playoffs do not begin today. The Red Sox outfielder still needs more time before he will be in game condition.

The good news for Drew is that he was able to play in a game last night for the first time since Aug. 17. The bad news is that he lasted only three innings and felt less than 100 percent.

“The legs got a little bit wobbly after not running around like that for a while,” Drew reported after the Sox beat the Indians, 5-4. “But all in all I think it went pretty well.”

Drew had a hit and an error and ran around a lot in the three innings. Twice he had to run hard to first base. He scored a run. Several times he had to chase down balls in right.

“It was an eventful night,” is the way he described it.

He and manager Terry Francona had planned to remove him early, so Drew did not protest when he was replaced by Jonathan Van Every.

The MVP in the All-Star game this year has made major improvements in the last several days after receiving a second epidural shot, but he knows he is not in game shape.

“(I’m) a little stiff, but no worse for the wear; I think still fighting off that injury a little bit,” he said. “I felt it before the game started. I felt it yesterday, but I felt like I could start playing through it a little bit. Hopefully it won’t get any worse.”

He hopes to be able to play several more times before the end of the regular season, including tonight.

“Yeah, I think so as long as everything goes well overnight and I wake up and feel like everything is good,” he responded when asked whether he would play tonight. “I’ll talk to Tito in the morning.”

Francona said that if Drew is well, he will be the designated hitter tonight. Drew made it clear there was some concern.

“I really didn’t expect to get as jelly-legged out there as I did,” he said. “But when you think of not really doing anything for five or six weeks but sit down or lay down because of the back injury, it’s hard to do any weight work or anything like that. It just doesn’t work out. I’ve got some catching up to do.”

Until the last couple of days, there was doubt whether Drew would play at all.

“He had a real good day (Tuesday taking batting practice) and he ran around the outfield pain free,” Francona reported. “He had very good range of motion.”

Receiving a second epidural — the first was a month ago — was a key.

“He seemed to think it really helped,” Francona said. “That’s why they did it. We’re glad.” The goal is to get Drew some at-bats while trying to ensure he does not start feeling worse.

“We’ll try to balance that,” the manager said.

Drew went 1-for-2. He grounded into a fielder’s choice in the first, giving his back a test. There were runners on first and second with one out when Drew hit a grounder to second. He had to hustle to prevent a double play and he did. Keeping the inning alive was important. The Sox had already scored one run and they went on to score three more in the inning.

Drew, who had missed the previous 33 games, also singled in the third before being removed for a pinch-runner.

He had to test his back in the field, too. He had one routine putout and twice had to chase balls hit into the corner. On one, a shot by Jamey Carroll, Drew let the carom coming around the corner from the Pesky pole go through his legs. Carroll ended up gaining third with the error.

“That’s one of the toughest plays in Fenway Park,” Drew said. “I didn’t get my glove down in time.”

The fielding problem is not an issue, he said. That will come as he gets stronger. The goal is to stay healthy long enough to be able to do that.

pkenyon@projo.com