The knuckleball of Tim Wakefield and the walk-off home run by David Ortiz gave the Boston Red Sox their third straight win over the Chicago White Sox. They look to go for the sweep tonight at Fenway Park.
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 White Sox television market, you can catch the game on Comcast SportsNet Chicago. If you don’t live in either market, you’re in luck if you get the MLB Network. 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.
Young Japanese righty Junichi Tazawa is making his fifth appearance (fourth start) for the Red Sox tonight. He is 2-2 with a 3.57 ERA and is coming off of a win against the New York Yankees. In that game, he allowed 8 hits over 6 scoreless innings. He has never faced the White Sox in his career.
Lefty John Danks gets the ball for skipper Ozzie Guillen tonight. Danks has made 24 starts this season and is 11-8 with a 3.85 ERA. Danks has not had much success against the Red Sox in his short career as he is 0-3 with a 6.06 ERA in three starts. He’s made one start at Fenway Park back in July of 2007 where he took the loss after giving up 4 runs in 6 innings pitched.
As we learned this morning, Brad Penny asked for and was granted his release to make room for Billy Wagner on the 25-man and 40-man rosters. Wagner will wear #13 for the Red Sox as Alex Gonzalez will switch from #13 to #3. Wagner is 39-37 with 385 saves and a 2.39 ERA (218 ER/820.0 IP) in 767 career relief appearances
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Ortiz still swinging [Extra Bases]
Wagner wants to help any way he can [Extra Bases]
Wagner unavailable tonight [Extra Bases]
Lowrie: ‘I’m not ready to give up.’ [Extra Bases]
Carter claimed [Extra Bases]
Billy Wagner: Lefty Specialist and Waterboy [Full Count]
Trio of backstop prospects catching on [Full Count]
Tony’s Top 5: Former Red Sox to critique down the stretch [Tony Massarotti – Boston Globe]
On Wagner, Sox were always watching [Tony Massarotti – Boston Globe]
Sources: 3 NL teams interested in Penny [ESPN.com]
Penny released, but shouldn’t be unemployed for long [Projo Sox Blog]
Billy Wagner happy to join Red Sox [Projo Sox Blog]
Quotable Ozzie Guillen [Center Field]
Here are the lineups for tonight’s game:
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| 1. Scott Podsednik | CF | 1. Jacoby Ellsbury | CF |
| 2. Gordon Beckham | 3B | 2. Dustin Pedroia | 2B |
| 3. A.J. Pierzynski | C | 3. Victor Martinez | C |
| 4. Paul Konerko | 1B | 4. Kevin Youkilis | 1B |
| 5. Jim Thome | DH | 5. David Ortiz | DH |
| 6. Carlos Quentin | LF | 6. Jason Bay | LF |
| 7. Mark Kotsay | RF | 7. Mike Lowell | 3B |
| 8. Alexei Ramirez | SS | 8. J.D. Drew | RF |
| 9. Jayson Nix | 2B | 9. Alex Gonzalez | SS |
| John Danks | SP | Junichi Tazawa | SP |
63-64
73-53And here are how the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers. No one on the White Sox has faced Tazawa.
