The story of last night’s game was the 8 walks given up by Boston Red Sox pitchers last night. Jon Lester was responsible for 4 of them. He was good early on but ran into some trouble in the 4th which would eventually cost the Red Sox the game. It was also Lester’s first major league start without a strikeout.

Mike Lowell went down with a sprained thumb which he suffered on the first play of the game. He did go for x-rays and they were negative. He’s listed as day-to-day. I’d expect him to rest his thumb tonight and see how feels for the game on Friday night against the Evil Empire.

Mike Timlin should be activated today or tomorrow after throwing at Pawtucket last night. He threw 10 pitches, 7 for strikes in 1 inning of work. He retired all 3 batters he faced on ground ball outs. When Timlin is activated, someone from the bullpen will have to go. It’s likely to come from the trio of David Aardsma, Bryan Corey or Javier Lopez. My guess is that the move will come on Friday giving Timlin a day of rest and giving skipper Terry Francona a chance to use anyone of the three. All three did pitch in last night’s game, with only Aardsma having any success ( 1 2/3 innings, 2 walks).

Don’t forget, tonight’s game will be on NESN Plus. Click here to find the NESN Plus channel on your cable or satellite provider. The pre-game show will still air on NESN but start @ 5:30 PM.

Sean McAdam says it’s time to take the top off the circus in Boston.

Coco Crisp isn’t happy with the platoon situation going on in center field with Jacoby Ellsbury and does plan to talk to Tito about it.

“That’s something I wouldn’t prefer,” Crisp said of going deeper into the season with the same platoon-like scenario. “It’s Ells’ rookie season and I think he deserves a chance to go for Rookie of the Year. He’s highly touted, and you want your own guys to go for that opportunity. It’s a good accomplishment. And for myself, I feel like I’m an everyday player. It’s hard for myself and for Ellsbury to have that day on and day off. I think it’s better for the team to have that one guy. I wouldn’t be happy to be sitting on the bench.”

I think it’s only a matter of time before the Red Sox move him. Things have been quiet as of late on the trade front involving Coco but I’d expect Theo Epstein to start burning up the phone lines looking for some bullpen help for Coco. It’s obvious Ellsbury is here to stay and the best way for him to keep on developing is by playing every day.

Dustin Pedroia should take some lessons from Jonathan Papelbon on acting or do commercials where you don’t have to say anything at all. Here are Papelbon’s new commercials courtesy of our friend Texy over at Center Field. The first one is Papelbon’s Dunkin Donuts commercial and the second one is his Modell’s commercial.

to Texy for the video goodness.

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant and Providence Journal websites.