Carl Crawford kicks off brief rehab stint at Pawtucket

Carl Crawford played his first of two minor league rehab games with Triple-A Pawtucket last night. He played five innings in left field and went 1-for-2 a broken bat RBI single, a walk and a run scored.

Most importantly, he told Mike Scandura of the Boston Globe after the game that his hamstring felt fine.

“The most important thing was being able to break out of the box like I normally can . . . to be able to move quick without worrying about my hamstring,’’ Crawford said after playing five innings in a rehab game for Pawtucket against the Durham Bulls. “I had a few moments tonight where I was able to test it.’’

Crawford has been sidelined since suffering a Grade 1 strain of his his left hamstring while beating out an infield single on June 17. Barring any setbacks this weekend, he is slated to fly to Baltimore on Sunday and rejoin the Red Sox for Monday’s game against the Orioles.

Crawford has a disappointing .243/.275/.384 batting line to go along with six home runs, eight stolen bases and a .659 OPS in 277 plate appearances this season, but was batting .316 with four home runs and 17 RBI over his last 21 games prior to the injury.