The Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves square off in game 2 of a 3-game set. The Braves pounded Daisuke Matsuzaka early and often on their way to an 8-2 win. Kenshin Kawakami and three Braves relievers held the Red sox to just two hits on the night, both by Jason Bay.

The game tonight will start at 7:10 PM EDT and will be televised in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the Braves television market, you can catch the game on Peachtree TV. And if the television isn’t your cup of tea, you can catch the game on one of the many affiliates of the Red Sox Radio Network.

Josh Beckett starts for the Red Sox tonight and comes off a rough outing against the Phillies. Prior to that, he was cruising right along and was just absolutely dominating. He has made 13 starts and is 7-3 with a 4.15 ERA. In 15 career starts against the Braves, Beckett is 6-7 with a 2.45 ERA.

Derek Lowe returns to the Fenway Park mound for the first time since the 2004 World Series. Lowe spent the 1997-2004 seasons in the Red Sox organization before leaving for the LA Dodgers through free agency. He had come to the Red Sox via trade along with Jason Varitek back in the 1997 season from the Mariners for Heathcliff Sloclumb. On the season, Lowe is 7-4 with a 4.08 ERA in fourteen starts. This is his first appearance against his former team. With his start tonight against the Red Sox, Lowe will now have faced every team in the big leagues. He is 4-0 with a 0.58 ERA (2 ER/31.0 IP) in his last 5 starts vs. Atlanta, including 4 scoreless outings of at least 6.0 innings

The big news of the afternoon for the Red Sox is the removal of Matsuzaka from the rotation. It was thought a decision on this would come Monday but obviously this isn’t the case. He will undergo a battery of tests to see if there is anything physically ailing him right now. As I said this morning, John Smoltz will be starting on the day Dice-K was supposed to pitch. My best guess is that Dice-K ends up on the DL with Smoltz taking his roster spot. Good thing we didn’t trade Penny although we do have Clay Buchholz waiting his turn to help.

Playoff heroes to start in Sox-Braves tilt [RedSox.com]

Sox take Matsuzaka out of rotation [Extra Bases]

Pregame: Red Sox Vs. Braves [Extra Bases]

Matsuzaka to be skipped, physically examined [Full Count]

Sox to skip Matsuzaka’s next turn in the rotation [Projo Sox Blog]

Here are the lineups for tonight’s game:

And here is how the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers.