Sox right fielder J.D. Drew crashes into the wall Tuesday night while trying to snare a home run by the Tigers’ Brandon Inge.

AP / Elise Amendola

BOSTON — Had the Red Sox played last night against the Detroit Tigers, J.D. Drew would not have been playing right field for Boston.

Sox manager Terry Francona had decided to give the outfielder the night off — and play Wily Mo Pena in right — after Drew suffered a lower back contusion when he slammed into the wall in front of the Sox bullpen while trying to track down a home run by Detroit’s Brandon Inge on Tuesday.

However, Francona said yesterday that Drew’s injury did not appear to be serious.

“He checked in (yesterday) morning and he said he was doing pretty well, which was good news because I kind of thought he’d wake up feeling like he’d gotten hit by a wall,” Francona said. “And then he got to the ballpark and he said, ‘I don’t feel any worse now than I did when I left the game last night.’ So I think that’s encouraging. Does that mean he’ll play (today)? I don’t know. We’ll see. I think the news is more good than bad. Again, he hit the wall pretty hard (Tuesday) night, and in kind of a weird way that only that wall can do because of the size of it and the height of it. So he’s sore, but I don’t think he’s anything more than sore.”

Beckett won’t go

Josh Beckett (7-0, 2.66 ERA) is not going to start tomorrow night against the Atlanta Braves, Francona confirmed.

The right-hander, who turned 27 on Tuesday, tore a piece of skin on the tip of the middle finger of his throwing hand in Sunday’s win over Baltimore, leaving the game after four innings.

With Beckett sidelined, it is suspected that the Sox will bring up Kason Gabbard (3-1, 2.75 ERA) from Pawtucket. The southpaw was pulled early from his start Monday night against Toledo, when he threw less than 70 pitches.

To make room for Gabbard, Boston is likely to send down left-handed pitcher Javier Lopez.

Let’s play two

With the rain falling steadily at Fenway Park and the forecast calling for still more inclement weather throughout the evening, last night’s game against Detroit was postponed.

It has been rescheduled as the opener of a day-night doubleheader today at 12:35 p.m. Today’s regular-scheduled game between the Sox and Tigers will be played at 7:05 p.m.

Tickets for last night’s game will be good for admission to the 12:35 p.m. contest. Gates to the park will open at 10:35 a.m. for the day game.

The pitching matchups for both games remain the same, with right-hander Julian Tavarez taking the mound for Boston against lefty Mike Maroth in Game One. Curt Schilling will face Tigers right-hander Chad Durbin in the nightcap.

Timlin inching back

Cleared to begin a throwing program this week, reliever Mike Timlin, who is on the disabled list with tendinitis of the right shoulder, played catch yesterday and “he did just fine,” said Francona.

“(Today) will be a little bit of a, not an off-day, but a down day as far as the throwing program, but he has the right to go out and play toss,” he added. “He can do that. Then he’ll come back the next two days and go a little further.”

cthorn@projo.com