Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 7/6

After salvaging the series against the Seattle Mariners over the weekend, the Boston Red Sox will now play host to their former shortstop Nomar Garciaparra and the Oakland A’s.

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 A’s television market, you can catch the game on Comcast SportsNet California. 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.

After making two starts on the road, John Smoltz is set to make his Fenway Park debut tonight. He’s started two games so far and is 0-1 with 6.00 ERA. His last time out, he was a victim of a rain delay and actually was throwing the ball well. Smoltz has faced the A’s just twice in his career (one start) and is 1-0 with a save and a 2.61 ERA.

Rookie Brett Anderson makes his 15th start of the season for the A’s. On the season, he is 4-7 with a 5.45 ERA. He’s the faced the Red Sox once this season, suffering the loss after giving up 2 runs in 7 innings back on April 15th in Oakland.

Amanda just posted a pretty nice article about Nomar and his time with the Red Sox. Be sure to check that out. By the way, Nomar just happens to be my favorite Red Sox player of all-time.

Drew and Ellsbury, a comparison [Extra Bases]

Sox may need hitter [Extra Bases]

Nomar is here [Extra Bases]

Pedroia scratched from lineup [Extra Bases]

Nomar gets emotional [Extra Bases]

Garciaparra on Fenway fans: ‘I always loved them and appreciated them’ [Projo Sox Blog]

Photos of Nomar in his Boston days [Projo Sox Blog]

Monday’s main event: Nomar or Smoltz? [NESN.com]

Monday Nuggets – Sunday’s Play By Play [Nuggetpalooza]

Return of the Last Great Shortstop [Center Field]

Here are the lineups for tonight’s game:

Here is how the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers: