Drew

ANAHEIM — J.D. Drew will make his Red Sox debut in center field tonight as the team looks for an opportunity to give Coco Crisp some rest.

Manager Terry Francona said Crisp has been “running on fumes” the last week. Crisp battled cramping on the final game of last week’s homestand, but remained in the game as the Sox’ options were limited.

Crisp has played in 100 of the first 113 games, and has started every game since the All-Star break. The last time Crisp was out of the lineup was June 28-July 2, when he was sidelined for four straight games with a sore wrist.

“We asked J.D. how he felt about (playing center) and he’s actually looking forward to it,” said Francona. “He’s a good outfielder. He moves pretty well and his instincts are pretty solid.”

Drew played center field for most of his career at Florida State and has played the position in Atlanta and also Los Angeles.

“It’s definitely nothing new,” said Drew, “but when you haven’t been out there in a while, it’s a little different. It’s mostly the angle (of the ball coming off the bat that’s different) and working with your (corner) outfielders.”

When reminded that left fielder Manny Ramirez once cut off a throw from Johnny Damon, Drew chuckled and said he recalled seeing the play.

“If he does that with me,” said Drew, smiling, “there’s going to be trouble because I throw the ball a lot harder than Johnny.”

Suitors needed

Wily Mo Pena has cleared waivers, according to a major-league source, enabling the Sox to move him now that the non-waiver trading period has expired.

The Sox are looking for takers for Pena now that they’ve signed Bobby Kielty to a minor-league deal. Kielty is expected to join Pawtucket in Scranton for a doubleheader today and could be recalled in the next week.

Pena is making $1.875 million this season, meaning there’s less than $600,000 remaining to be assumed by a team trading for him.

Kielty has an out in his contract that allows him to leave if he’s not promoted to Boston by the middle of next week, a sure sign that the Sox intend to add him to the roster by then.

Given that the Sox have eaten far bigger remaining contracts in the recent past, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Sox could just designate Pena for assignment if they don’t find a trading partner.

Pena was in the lineup last night with lefty Joe Saunders pitching for the Angels.

That little bit extra

Thanks to tomorrow’s off-day, Daisuke Matsuzaka will be pitching with an extra day’s rest when he opens the series in Baltimore Friday night, but Francona said the Sox aren’t worried about the pitcher’s workload, even as he adjusts to a five-man rotation for the first time.

“We value extra days with everybody,” said Francona. “Hopefully, we’ll get into some uncharted waters, because that means we’ll be playing for a while (into the fall). But I don’t see that being a problem. When you get into games late in the season, you can really pitch him. He’s got a lot of arm strength, a lot of durability.”

Around the horn

Monday night’s ejection was just the third of Manny Ramirez’s career and second as a member of the Red Sox. Ramirez was last tossed on Sept. 27, 2002 against Tampa Bay and before that, May 21, 1999 (while with Cleveland) against Detroit. … Portland’s Justin Masterson, whom the Sox refused to deal at the trade deadline, was named Eastern League Player of the Month for July, going 4-0 with 1.36 ERA in five starts. Masterson struck out 35 in 33 innings.

smcadam@projo.com