After being swept in Anaheim, the Boston Red Sox head north tonight to continue their nine-game road trip. They’ll look to break their losing skid in the first game of a three-game set with the Oakland A’s at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, CA.

First pitch is scheduled for 10:05 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Athletics television market, you can catch the game on Comcast California. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to it on the Red Sox radio network.

Aaron Cook toes the rubber for the 13th time in 2012. In his previous 12 starts, Cook is 3-7 with a 4.76 ERA. He took the loss in his only start against the A’s this season after allowing three runs in six innings of work back on July 4th. Cook has made three career starts against the Athletics and is 1-1 with a 2.05 ERA (5 ER/22 IP). Two of those starts have come in Oakland where he is 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA (4 ER/14 IP).

Brandon McCarthy makes his 17th start of 2012. In his previous 16 starts, McCarthy is 7-5 with a 3.12 ERA. He picked up the win in his only start of 2012 against the visiting nine after allowing one run in 6.2 innings. McCarthy has made eight appearances (five starts) against the Red Sox and is 2-3 with a 5.23 ERA.

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

Here are today’s lineups:

62-70		73-57
1. Scott Podsednik	LF	1. Coco Crisp	CF
2. Dustin Pedroia	2B	2. Stephen Drew	SS
3. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF	3. Josh Reddick	RF
4. Cody Ross	RF	4. Yoenis Cespedes	LF
5. James Loney	1B	5. Brandon Moss	1B
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C	6. Jonny Gomes	DH
7. Mike Aviles	DH	7. Josh Donaldson	3B
8. Pedro Ciriaco	3B	8. George Kottaras	C
9. Jose Iglesias	SS	9. Cliff Pennington	SS
Aaron Cook	SP	Brandon McCarthy	SP

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

NOTES:

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

Ryan Kalish on Josh Reddick: ‘That’s the opportunity all of us want’ [clubhouse insider]

September a stark reminder of Sox’ continued slump [csn new england]

Red Sox notes: Hill sets short-term goals [csn new england]

Bobby V: No problems with Beckett [espn boston]

Boston Red Sox-Los Angeles Dodgers blockbuster trade anatomy [espn boston]

Josh Reddick is happy to be with Oakland Athletics rather than Boston Red Sox [espn boston]

Bobby V: David Ortiz ‘feels better’ [espn boston]

Theo comp Carpenter excelling for PawSox [espn boston]

PawSox coach thinks Bard will succeed [espn boston]

Last call for trades [extra bases]

Hill on the comeback trail with Sox [extra bases]

Dustin Pedroia’s a winner, but he’s not a leader just yet [tony massarotti – boston globe]

David Ortiz’s Injury, Alfredo Aceves’ Role, Daniel Bard’s Return Among Top 10 Red Sox Storylines Down Stretch (Photos) [nesn.com]

James Loney Fitting Right in With Red Sox Lineup After Hot Start to Boston Tenure [nesn.com]

Alfredo Aceves to Be Stretched Out Into Long Relief or Spot Starting After Losing Closer’s Role [nesn.com]

Jarrod Saltalamacchia Has ‘Played Like a Champion’ Despite Losing Playing Time to Ryan Lavarnway [nesn.com]

Felix Doubront ready to take aim at 200 innings next year [projo sox blog]

Since the Sox just dumped hundreds of millions in salaries . . . [projo sox blog]

With September set to begin, a look back at 12 months that changed the Red Sox forever [projo sox blog]

Hill ready to come back — and to stick around for a while [projo sox blog]

A Series Matter: Red Sox-Athletics and Perspective [projo sox blog]

Cook looks to sink hot-hitting Athletics [redsox.com]

Making sense of Jacoby Ellsbury’s past, present and future with the Red Sox [alex speier – weei.com]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

photo credits: getty images, getty images

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

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

UConn Football links

UConn has plenty to build on after win [andrea adelson]

Report Card: UConn Vs. UMass [desmond conner – hartford courant]

UConn 37, UMass 0: the wrap [ed daigneault – the republican-american]

UConn gets defensive in opener [jim fuller – new haven register]

UConn quick recap [john silver – journal inquirer]

Whitmer Not Perfect, But Didn’t Need To Be [uconnhuskies.com]

UConn dominates UMass in 37-0 rout [ct post]

UConn football notebook: Dream comes true for UMass’ coach Molnar [ct post]

Priorities for Big East boss are TV deal, 14th for football [ct post]

UConn Pounds UMass, 37-0 [hartford courant]

Big East Commissioner Aresco Talks About Retaining Teams [hartford courant]

Welcome To The Next Level UMass [hartford courant]

Five Things We Learned About UConn [hartford courant]

Defense dominates as Huskies rout UMass in season opener [new haven register]

Commissioner Mike Aresco confident in future of Big East [new haven register]

First day of school: UConn football wins opener over UMass [the day]

Big East commisioner: Conference is stronger than we’ve been given credit for [the day]

Sorry, but Huskies just aren’t interesting [the day]

UConn wins season opener, beating UMass 37-0 [the hour]

UMass football drops FBS opener 37-0 to UConn [springfield republican]

For UMass football, it’s back to work Friday after loss to UConn [springfield republican]

UMass football analysis: Darren Thellen, defense better than score indicates in UConn loss [springfield republican]

UMass football has a long way to go, but at least the trek has begun [springfield republican]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Huskies Make Harper’s Top 11 [rich elliott – ct post]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Reggie Cameron cuts list, keeps UConn [kevin duffy – ct post]

Drummond, Lamb Take Classes On NBA Life Off The Court [hartford courant]

Other UConn related links

Field Hockey. No. 6 Field Hockey Set for Friday Matchup With No. 9 Penn State [uconnhuskies.com]

W. Soccer. Huskies Face Two Nationally Ranked Opponents in South Bend [uconnhuskies.com]

M. Soccer. No. 1/5 Huskies Set To Play Host To Dartmouth at 7 p.m. Friday [uconnhuskies.com]

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The UConn Huskies football team opened up its 2012 schedule on Thursday night as they welcomed the UMass Minutemen into the FBS. And after the way the Huskies played, it looks like it’ll be a long season for the Minutemen.

Behind a complete team effort, UConn beat the Minutemen 37-0 in front of 35,270 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT.

The story of this game to me was how dominant the defense was.

At one point in the first half, UMass had more punts (five) than they did total yards (three). UMass would end up finishing with eight total yards in the first half and just 59 for the game.

As we saw from the team last year, defensive coordinator Don Brown once again dialed up the pressure on the team he once coached to an FCS title game.  With an inexperienced quarterback and a Brown defense, there was no doubt who would come out on top. Brown coaches an agressive style of defense and he called blitzes as the right time to put pressure on UMass redshirt freshman quarterback Mike Wegzyn.

The much maligned pass defense looked solid as well holding Wegzyn and A.J. Doyle to 60 yards passing. Dwayne Gratz got in on the action with a 37 yard interception return for a touchdown. The run defense held UMass to -1 yard rushing.

We got our first look at new quarterback Chandler Whitmer and I’ll be honest I did like what I saw. It’s definitely a different UConn team when you have a quarterback who can pass the ball so the opposing teams can’t stack the box on Lyle McCombs.

Whitmer did make some mistakes as you would expect in his first FCS game. The first interception he had wasn’t his fault as the UMass defender made a great play. The second one was all on him though.

Overall though, he looked good passing the ball. He made a few bad reads but he throws a nice ball. He finished the night 15-of-25 for 219 yards with the two interceptions.

We are all used to a solid offensive line leading the way for the running backs but this isn’t the same offensive line we are used to. McCombs did finish with 84 yards on 24 carries. Against a team like UMass, this could have been better.

It’s the first game of the season and I think it went better than a lot of people thought it would. The defense pitched a shutout, the offense was good and the special teams was outstanding.

If the defense continues like this as the season goes on and the offense improves on a weekly basis, this UConn team could surprise a few teams along the way.

Scoring:

1st quarter

CON – 5:59 – Lyle McCombs 1 yd run (Chad Christen extra point)

2nd quarter

CON – 9:04 – Chad Christen 36 yard field goal

CON – 2:49 – Chad Christen 47 yard field goal

CON – 1:49 – Dwayne Gratz 37 yard interception return (Chad Christen extra point)

3rd quarter

CON – 4:12 – Max DeLorenzo Recovered Blocked Punt In End Zone (Chad Christen extra point)

4th quarter

CON – 8:24 – Scott McCummings 1 yd run (Chad Christen extra point)

CON – 1:36 – Chad Christen 19 yard field goal

To continue reading, the UMass Minutemen @ UConn Huskies recap, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Offensive Player of the Game:

While different guys stood out, it was Geremy Davis who stood out to me. Davis had five catches for 79 yards.

Defensive Player of the Game:

The entire UConn defense earns the player of the game in my opinion holding UMass to just 59 yards in the game.

Turning Point(s) of the Game:

No one real key turning point but the defense made sure UMass had no chance in this game at all.

Offensive Notes:

In his first FBS game, Chandler Whitmer was 15-of-25 for 219 yards with two interceptions. Scott McCummings had seven carries for 13 yards and a touchdown out of the wildcat. Lyle McCombs had 24 carries for 89 yards and a touchdown. He also added two catches for 23 yards. Nick Williams had three rushes for 24 yards and one catch for 16 yards. Max Delorenzo had four rushes for 24 yards and also recovered a blocked punt in the end zone. Geremy Davis led all receivers with five catches for 79 yards. Michael Smith had three catches for 30 yards while newcomer Shakim Phillips had two catches for 21 yards.

Defensive Notes:

Yawin Smallwood led the Huskies with seven tackles (five solo, two assisted) along with one pass break up and one sack for an eight yard loss. Sio Moore had five tackles (two solo, three assisted) with two pass breakups. Dwayne Gratz and Ryan Wirth both had four tackles with Gratz returning an interception for 37 yards. Trevardo Williams had the other sack for the Huskies.

Special Teams Notes:

Special teams was solid all around. Chad Christen was 4-for-4 on extra points and made all three of his field goal attempts (36, 47, 19). Cole Wagner averaged 39 yards on his two punts. Nick Williams returned three punts for 66 yards and one kickoff for 37 yards. If he keeps this up, teams will be kicking away from him all year. Taylor Mack blocked a punt in the 2nd quarter that was recovered by Max Delorenzo for a touchdown.

Injuries:

Ted Jennings suffered an undisclosed injury in the 3rd quarter.

Officials:

Referee: Tracy Jones  •  Umpire: Richard Feeney  •  Linesman: Tom Considine  •  Line judge: Kevin Codey  •  Back judge: Jim Brennan  •  Field judge: Rick Santilli  •  Side judge: Jim Brennan.

Game Notes:

UMass Minutemen @ UConn Huskies 8.30.12 box score

Here are the postgame quotes from UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni and UMass head coach Charley Molnar as well as players from both teams.

Here are the starters for the Huskies:

OFFENSE

DEFENSE

Here are the game notes courtesy of UConn Sports Information:

• Redshirt-sophomore Chandler Whitmer’s first Quarter pass to Mike Osiecki was a 16-yard completion; on his first drive Whitmer was 3-3 for 38 yards.
• Redshirt-sophomore Lyle McCombs’ touchdown in the first quarter was his eighth career rushing touchdown.
• Redshirt-junior Chad Christen scored his first career point in the first quarter on a PAT and made his first two career field goal attempts of 36 and 47 yards in the second quarter…He recorded a 19-yard attempt in the fourth quarter…Christen’s three field goals mark the first time a Husky made three in a contest since Dave Teggart vs. USF on October 14, 2011.
• Connecticut held UMass to 12 total yards in the first Quarter and a total of 59 yards for the game.
• Redshirt-sophomore Yawin Smallwood improved his career mark to 2.5 sacks and registered 3.5 tackles for loss in the game.
• Redshirt-freshmen Andrew Adams 9-yard tackle for loss in the second quarter was his first career tackle for loss.
• Redshirt-senior Dwayne Gratz recorded his second career interception for a touchdown on his 37-yard return in the second quarter…The last time this feat was accomplished by a Husky was on October 8, 2011 at West Virginia by Ty-Meer  Brown for 48 yards…Gratz’ previous TD return was in the 2011 Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma for 46 yards.
• Connecticut held UMass without a first-down until 33 seconds to play before halftime.
• Redshirt-sophomore Geremy Davis had a career high 26-yard reception in the third quarter…He finished with a game-high five receptions for 79 yards.
• Redshirt-sophomore Shakim Phillips recorded his first catch as a Connecticut player in the third quarter, a six-yard grab…His second reception was for 15 yards.
• The punt blocked by Taylor Mack and returned for a touchdown by Max DeLorenzo in the third quarter was the first for the Huskies since September 10, 2011 by Byron Jones at Vanderbilt…It was DeLorenzo’s first career touchdown.
• Redshirt-sophomore QB Scott McCummings scored his eighth career touchdown during the fourth quarter.
• Connecticut tied the program-mark for least first downs allowed with three…The last time it happened was against Navy in 2002.
• The Connecticut shutout tonight is the first against an FBS opponent since September 1, 2005 vs. Buffalo in which Connecticut was victorious 38-0…The Huskies last shutout against any opponent was against Maine on September 8, 2007.
• Connecticut won by more than 30 points for the second year in a row when opening at home…The last was vs. Fordham on September 3, 2011, 35-3.

Big East Games and Results:

Friday, August 31

Villanova
Temple, 7 p.m.

Saturday, September 1

Northwestern
Syracuse, 12 p.m.

Youngstown St.
Pittsburgh, 6 p.m.

Chattanooga
South Florida, 7 p.m.

Rutgers
Tulane, 8 p.m.

Sunday, September 2

Kentucky
Louisville, 3:30 p.m.

Things to Work On:

• I’d like to see Whitmer establish himself a little more. Made some poor decisions but his footwork is top notch.
• As much as everyone likes the wildcat, personally I think we need to see what Whitmer can do with this offense. He definitely has the help on the receiving corps which is something we haven’t seen here in a long time.
• Keep getting Nick Williams the ball. When he touched the ball on offense, things happened.
• Offensive line needs to block better. They have top RB in McCombs but they need to open up more holes for him.
• While UConn was 8-of-16 (50%) on the third downs, they could have been better. A few mistakes cost them from it being around 75%.

Up Next:

The Huskies stay at home as they’ll welcome the North Carolina State Wolpack to Rentschler Field next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for high noon.

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Photo credit: stephen dunn – hartford courant (no. 3 in gallery), ap photo

After getting blown out 10-3 last night, the Boston Red Sox look to salvage the finale of a three-game set tonight with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

First pitch is scheduled for 10:05 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Angels television market, you can catch the game on Fox Sports West. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to it on the Red Sox radio network.

Jon Lester steps on the slab for the 26th time in 2012 tonight. In his previous 25 starts, Lester is 8-10 with a 4.98 ERA. He has not faced the Angels this season and was 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA (1 ER/13 IP) in 2011. Lester has made seven career starts against the Halos and is 4-1 with a 4.20 ERA. Three of those starts have come at the Big A where he is 2-0 with a 5.02 ERA.

Zack Greinke makes his seventh start in an Angels uniform and 28th overall this season. In 27 starts between his time with the Milwaukee Brewers and Angels, Greinke is 11-5 with a 3.87 ERA. In his six starts with the Angels, he is 2-2 with a 5.22 ERA. He last faced the Red Sox in 2010 as a member of the Kansas City Royals when he went 0-2 with a 3.55 ERA (5 ER/12.2 IP). Overall in his career, Greinke has made six career appearances (five starts) and is 1-4 with a 2.88 ERA.

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

Here are today’s lineups:

62-69		68-62
1. Scott Podsednik	LF	1. Mike Trout	CF
2. Dustin Pedroia	2B	2. Torii Hunter	RF
3. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF	3. Albert Pujols	DH
4. James Loney	1B	4. Mark Trumbo	1B
5. Cody Ross	RF	5. Howie Kendrick	2B
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	DH	6. Erick Aybar	SS
7. Ryan Lavarnway	C	7. Maicer Izturis	3B
8. Mike Aviles	SS	8. Vernon Wells	LF
9. Pedro Ciriaco	3B	9. Chris Iannetta	C
Jon Lester	SP	Zack Greinke	SP

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

NOTES: Daniel Bard has been called up from Triple-A Pawtucket. To make room on the 25-man roster for him, last night’s starter Zach Stewart was optioned to the PawSox.

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Red Sox’ High-Profile Shake-Up Evokes Many Emotions, But Necessary to Improve Culture [tom caron – nesn.com]

Jarrod Saltalamacchia on diminished time behind plate: ‘I want to play’ [clubhouse insider]

September means roster expansion [csn new england]

Stewart on nine-run debut: ‘I was too inconsistent’ [csn new england]

Boras sees Ellsbury as ‘franchise player’ [espn boston]

Smart spenders? Sox rank 70th in new poll [espn boston]

Lester goes for fourth straight win tonight [espn boston]

Francona ‘astounded’ by Sox trade [espn boston]

Random West Coast thoughts on the Red Sox [extra bases]

Happy birthday, Ted Williams [extra bases]

Kevin Heller Making Seamless Transition From Yankees Fan to Hardworking Red Sox Minor Leaguer (Podcast) [nesn.com]

Mauro Gomez Continues to Be Nice Surprise at Big League Level After MVP Season in Pawtucket [nesn.com]

New Red Sox Addition Rubby De La Rosa Earns Stamp of Approval From Former Teammate Vicente Padilla [nesn.com]

Angels’ Morales a possible target for post-trade Red Sox [projo sox blog]

Prospect Brentz promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket [projo sox blog]

Ciriaco getting comfortable at third base [projo sox blog]

Bard back in the bullpen, Aceves to start? [projo sox blog]

Aviles, Saltalamacchia adapting to new roles [projo sox blog]

Facing Angels, Lester looks to keep rolling [redsox.com]

Career once stalled, Olmsted shows promise [redsox.com]

Bogaerts highlights seven Red Sox named minor league All-Stars [soxprospects.com]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

photo credits: getty images, getty images