Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 7/16

John Lackey (L), James Shields (R)

After seeing their six-game winning streak fall by the wayside last night, the Boston Red Sox look to get back to the business of winning in game two of a three-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field this afternoon.

Today’s first pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. and you can watch the game on FOX in 41% of the country. And if you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2011 Red Sox Radio Network.

“Mr. Inconsistency” John Lackey takes to the hill for the Red Sox this afternoon. So far in 2011, Lackey has made 14 starts and is 6-8 with a 6.84 ERA. Lackey has not faced the Rays in 2011 and was 2-2 with a 6.26 ERA in four starts last season. He’s made 16 career starts against the Rays and is 11-4 with a 3.75 ERA. Six of those career starts have come at the Trop where he is 3-3 with a 6.16 ERA.

“Big Game” James Shields looks to get the Rays closer to the Red Sox in the standings. Shields has made 19 starts in 2011 and is 8-7 with a 2.33 ERA. In his lone start against the Red Sox this year back on June 14th at the Trop, Shields threw a complete game five-hit shutout. He’s made 17 career starts against the Red Sox and is 6-9 with a 4.71 ERA.

Click on the read more button below to see tonight’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day if you’re on the home page.

Here are this afternoon’s lineups:

55-36		50-41
1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF	1. Johnny Damon	DH
2. Dustin Pedroia	2B	2. Ben Zobrist	2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez	1B	3. Casey Kotchman	1B
4. Kevin Youkilis	3B	4. Evan Longoria	3B
5. David Ortiz	DH	5. Matt Joyce	RF
6. J.D. Drew	RF	6. B.J. Upton	CF
7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C	7. Sam Fuld	LF
8. Josh Reddick	LF	8. Kelly Shoppach	C
9. Marco Scutaro	SS	9. Reid Brignac	SS
John Lackey	SP	James Shields	SP

And here is how the hitters have fared against today’s starting pitchers:

Boston Red Sox @ Tampa Bay Rays batter/pitcher matchups

Notes: Bobby Jenks is back on the DL again for back tightness. The Red Sox have called up lefty Randy Williams from Triple-A Pawtucket to take his place. To make room on the 40-man roster for Williams, Tommy Hottovy has been designated for assignment.

Check back and/or refresh often as more links will be added if/when they become available before game time.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

Dustin Pedroia raking after knee scare [Clubhouse Insider]

Bobby Jenks back to DL; Lefty reliever Randy Williams called up [Clubhouse Insider]

Clay Buchholz: ‘It’s taking a little bit longer than I wanted it to’ [Clubhouse Insider]

Jenks to DL, Williams up, Hottovy DFA [CSNNE.com]

Buchholz unsure when he will return [CSNNE.com]

Buchholz: Rehab taking longer than expected [ESPN Boston]

Boston Red Sox put Bobby Jenks on DL, recall Randy Williams [ESPN Boston]

History for Pedroia and Scutaro [Extra Bases]

Jenks back on DL [Extra Bases]

Buchholz will not return any time soon [Extra Bases]