Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 7/1

Tim Wakefield (L), Bud Norris (R)

After salvaging the finale in the City of Brotherly Love on Thursday afternoon, the Boston Red Sox head to the Space City to finish up interleague play in 2011. The Red Sox and Houston Astros will square off tonight in the first of a three-game set at Minute Maid Park.

Tonight’s first pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. and you can watch the game on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Astros television market, you can catch the game on Fox Sports Houston. And if you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2011 Red Sox Radio Network.

Tim Wakefield goes in search of career win No. 198 in his 10th start (19th appearance) of 2011. In his previous 18 appearances (nine starts), Wake is 4-3 with a 4.54 ERA. Wake has made one appearance against the Astros in his career and that came as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates back in 1993. In that appearance at the Astrodome, he allowed two runs in 3.2 innings. In 62 career interleague appearances (44 starts), Wake is 17-18 with a 4.38 ERA and four saves. In 2011, Wake has made three interleague starts and is 2-1 with a 3.92 ERA (9 ER/20.2 IP).

Bud Norris makes his 17th start of 2011 for old friend Brad Mills. In his previous 16 starts, Norris is 4-6 with a 3.36 ERA. This marks his first career appearance against the Red Sox. He’s made two career interleague starts, both against the Tampa Bay Rays. In those two starts, he is 0-1 with a 6.30 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 tonight’s lineups:

46-34		29-53
1. Marco Scutaro	SS	1. Michael Bourn	CF
2. Dustin Pedroia	2B	2. Angel Sanchez	2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez	1B	3. Hunter Pence	RF
4. Kevin Youkilis	3B	4. Carlos Lee	LF
5. J. D. Drew	RF	5. Chris Johnson	3B
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C	6. Brett Wallace	1B
7. Josh Reddick	CF	7. Clint Barmes	SS
8. Drew Sutton	LF	8. Carlos Corporan	C
9. Tim Wakefield	P	9. Bud Norris	P

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

Boston Red Sox @ Houston Astros batter/pitcher matchups

Notes: Jacoby Ellsbury was in the original lineup but was scratched due to the ol’ intestinal turmoil issue. Sutton steps into the lineup for him.

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

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New York Times Co. sells half of Red Sox stake for $117M [Boston Herald]

Tim Wakefield set for latest start; Theo Epstein on Sox rotation’s depth [Clubhouse Insider]

David Ortiz on All-Star HR Derby: ‘We’re going to try to put a show on’ [Clubhouse Insider]

Big Mac attack? Hardly [ESPN Boston]

Podcast: Schilling on ESPN Boston Radio [ESPN Boston]

Homecoming for Beckett, Crawford [ESPN Boston]

Ortiz will be in HR Derby, pick 3 others [ESPN Boston]

Pregame notes from Minute Maid Park [Extra Bases]

Kevin Millar on M&M: Interleague play ‘does take away a little bit from the American League teams’ [Full Count]

Which American League Sluggers Should David Ortiz Pick for the Home Run Derby? [NESN.com]