PHOENIX — In the visitors’ clubhouse, manager Terry Francona picked up his lineup card, grabbed his Magic Marker and, when it came time to fill in a name in the fifth spot in the batting order, he spelled out “Drew.”

Meanwhile, over in the home clubhouse, manager Bob Melvin picked up his lineup card, grabbed his Magic Marker and, when it came time to fill in a name in the fifth spot in the batting order, he spelled out “Drew.”

No, it wasn’t a case of mistaken identity on the part of either manager.

Both the Boston Red Sox and the Arizona Diamondbacks had a “Drew” batting in the number five spot last night, brothers J.D. and Stephen.

It wasn’t the first time they played against each other. It happened a few times last year when Stephen, Arizona’s number-one draft pick in 2004, was called up to majors halfway through the season while J.D. was playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Nor was 2004 the first time J.D. had played against one of his brothers. Another brother, Tim, pitched in the big leagues against J.D.

But that didn’t mean that last night’s Red Sox-Diamondbacks game didn’t provide a meaningful moment for the Drew brothers.

“It’s great to get a chance to play against him and see how he’s doing,” said J.D., 31, the Sox’ right fielder who hit a three-run homer last night, giving the Sox a 4-0 lead in the third inning.

“It’s always fun to play against him,” said Stephen, 24, the Diamondbacks’ shortstop, to local reporters on Thursday. “Growing up it was only in the yard so this is unique. What would be real neat was if we were on the same team.”

J.D. echoes that theme, but the odds of that happening in the near future don’t seem likely.

“He’s going to be there for a while and I’m going to be here for a while,” said J.D., who signed a five-year free-agent deal with the Red Sox over the winter.

They manage to keep in touch, though.

“We talk and we text-message back and forth a lot,” said J.D.

One hot topic, no doubt, would be how to scrape out a few more hits.

Entering last night’s game, Stephen was batting just .238 with two homers and 23 RBI in 55 games. He did hit a three-run homer last Saturday, which accounted for his second straight three-RBI game, but posted a .308 batting average with five homers and 23 RBI in 59 games last year in his first taste of the big leagues.

His big brother hasn’t been setting the world on fire, either. In fact, their offensive numbers are very similar. J.D. was batting .224 with two homers and 17 RBI in 50 games.

The Red Sox have been trying everything to get their Drew going. They have sat him down against some left-handers, they have sat him down because of a tight hamstring and they have sat him down to give him time to get his head together and work on his swing with batting coach Dave Magadan.

J.D., a left-handed hitter, missed back-to-back starts in Oakland on Tuesday and Wednesday nights against left-handed pitchers. He was restored to the starting lineup on Thursday and looked like a different hitter.

He went only 1-for-4, but he was doing a lot of good things at the plate. In his first at-bat, he smoked a liner up the middle, but Oakland shortstop Marco Scutaro was positioned perfectly, the line drive sizzling right at him for a putout.

In his second at-bat, he scorched a bouncer through the mound, but pitcher Joe Blanton got enough leather on it to slow it down so Scutaro could make the play. Scutaro, though, couldn’t catch the liner J.D. rifled into center for a single in the seventh. His day at the plate ended with a called third strike in the ninth, but J.D. was hopeful he might have found a few things at the plate that would get him going.

Of course, hitting the ball hard is only part of the equation.

“You want those balls to find some grass somewhere,” said J.D. “I’m not going to change anything [last night]. I did hit the ball well, but that’s the way things have been going for me. When I have squared the ball up, it seems to be right at somebody. It’s nice to take some good swings, but the key is you want to see some results.”

Hopefully for the Red Sox and J.D. those results will come soon and he can show his baby brother a thing or two about hitting.

skrasner@projo.com