.500, two games below .500 at home (22-24) but two games above .500 on the road (21-19).

If you thought this is where the Boston Red Sox would be at the 2012 All-Star break, you would be a genius. As fans of the team, we hold them to a higher standard and for the most part, we know they do to. But sometimes it just doesn’t show.

The Red Sox had a good opportunity this weekend to make up ground on the New York Yankees in the AL East standings. Instead, they found the Bronx Bombers take three-of-four games. And if we were to place blame on anyone, it has to lie with the starting pitching.

Friday night, Josh Beckett gave up five runs in the 1st inning (loss). Saturday afternoon, Franklin Morales gave up four runs in the 1st inning (loss). After Felix Doubront gave up three runs in the 1st in the nightcap, the Red Sox did rally back for the win.

It was the same old story on Sunday night as Jon Lester gave up two runs in the 1st inning. You could possibly put a little bit of the blame on Mauro Gomez who had a bad throw that allowed Nick Swisher to reach on a fielder’s choice and a run to score. But then again, how can you blame Gomez when he’s playing a position he hasn’t played since 2009 in the Single-A California League.

And he’s only there because Will Middlebrooks is battling a hamstring problem that cropped up just after Kevin Youkilis was traded to the Chicago White Sox.

The problem is Lester didn’t really get any better as the game went on. This is the same pitcher who was given the Opening Day start this year and was supposed to the team’s ace pitcher. Right now, he’s far from that.

The offense couldn’t get much done against Ivan Nova. They managed a run in the 1st when Derek Jeter made an error that allowed Pedro Ciriaco to score. They added another in the 3rd when Ciriaco scored from first on a double from David Ortiz.

When you go back to the top (waits for you to scroll up and come back down) and look at the record again, it really could be worse. Sure we want to say Bobby Valentine is a horrible manager but can we really?

He’s doing the best with what’s he been given. Jacoby Ellsbury has played only nine games, Carl Crawford hasn’t seen the field, Cody Ross saw the DL, Ryan Sweeney has been on the DL twice, Josh Beckett has been on the DL, Clay Buchholz, and the list goes on.

If it weren’t for the callups, Middlebrooks, Daniel Nava, Rich Hill before he got hurt, Scott Podsednik before he got sent done, Aaron Cook  and that list goes on as well, the Red Sox might not be even anywhere close to the .500 mark. Instead of being tied for the last place in the AL East, they could be in the last place 10-20 games under .500 and gutting the team with the trade deadline coming up in 22 days.

Instead, they now need to make a decision whether or not to go for it. The second wild card spot makes that decision all the more harder. They are just 2.5 games out of that spot and five back for the top spot in the wild card standings.

Decisions, decisions, decisions. I’m just glad I don’t have to make them in regards to this situation.

The Red Sox are off for the All-Star break until Friday when they return with a three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, FL. So for now, let’s take at look at the overnight links from the media by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

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

Low and away [boston globe]

Young Sox ready to look ahead [boston globe]

Once again, trouble showed up early [boston globe]

Teixeira swings back, calls Padilla’s comments ‘crazy’ [boston globe]

Bronx Bombers feel no remorse [boston herald]

Carl Crawford: Surgery can wait [boston herald]

Sox off to take needed break [boston herald]

Clay Buchholz rested, ready [boston herald]

Jon Lester’s woes continue [boston herald]

Yankees take three of four in Fenway, beat Sox, 7-3 [csn new england]

Valentine ‘surprised’ Gonzalez’s illness got best of him [csn new england]

Lester, Sox at a loss as first half of season ends [csn new england]

Ortiz has answer for first-half woes: Injuries [csn new england]

Sox stagger into much-needed break [espn boston]

Boston Red Sox need Jon Lester, Josh Beckett to be much better in second half of season [espn boston]

Carl Crawford wants to play through the pain, Bobby V on the first half and other Red Sox notes [full count]

Closing Time: Jon Lester and the .500 Red Sox conclude first half with a whimper [full count]

Jon Lester: ‘[Expletive] first half’ represents ‘uncharted waters for me’ [full count]

As he arrives on big stage of All-Star Futures Game, Matt Barnes driven by first taste of failure [full count]

Derek Jeter on Red Sox in second half: ‘I’m sure they’ll be fine’ [full count]

Time for Red Sox to put Josh Beckett and Jon Lester on the trading block [tony massarotti – boston globe]

Mark Teixeira Calls Vicente Padilla’s Assertions ‘Completely Erroneous,’ Jokes That Women’s Boxing Is Tough [nesn.com]

Carl Crawford Likely to Need Tommy John Surgery, But Will Attempt to Play This Season [nesn.com]

Pedro Ciriaco, Will Middlebrooks Among Young Stars Providing Hope for Red Sox’ Second Half (Video) [nesn.com]

Red Sox’ First Inning Troubles Continue to Spell Doom for Club [nesn.com]

Red Sox Dig Themselves Into Tough Hole After Dropping Three of Four to the Yankees [nesn.com]

Adrian Gonzalez Battles Undisclosed Illness, Was Sick Enough To Leave Game, Sacrifice Hitting Streak [nesn.com]

Red Sox’ Issues Still Start With Starting Pitching and Other Thoughts From Baseball’s First Half [nesn.com]

Crawford says he’ll eventually need surgery [redsox.com]

After rehab outing, Buchholz eyes Saturday return [redsox.com]

Adrian exits with illness, hitting streak ends [redsox.com]

Bogaerts, Barnes enjoy Futures Game experience [redsox.com]

Padilla, Teixeira continue war of words [redsox.com]

Why Red Sox prospect Xander Bogaerts would love to follow in Derek Jeter’s footsteps [alex speier – weei.com]

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the ESPN New York, New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times and The Journal News websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brother, NYY Stadium Insider.

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

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

Big East all-time winningest coaches [andrea adelson – espn.com]

UConn Gets Commitment From Big OT….From Belgium Andreas Knappe [desmond conner – hartford courant]

McCombs Named to Maxwell Watch List; Williams on Bednarik Watch List [uconnhuskies.com]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Hartley Named To U.S. 3×3 Team; Chong Shortens List [rich elliott – ct post]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Greater Hartford Pro-Am is Up and Running [david borges – new haven register]

Jim Calhoun Looks Ahead to 2012-13 Season [david borges – new haven register]

To Boo or not to Boo [uconn huskies basketball]

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

After splitting their doubleheader yesterday, the Boston Red Sox look for a split of their four-game set tonight with the New York Yankees at historic Fenway Park in the final game before the All-Star break.

First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. You can also watch the game online at ESPN3.com or with the WatchESPN app. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to it on the Red Sox radio network.

Jon Lester looks to put together a solid outing in his 18th start of 2012. In his previous 17 starts, Lester is 5-5 with a 4.33 ERA. He has not faced the Yankees in 2012 and was 2-2 with a 6.66 ERA in five starts in 2011. He’s made 17 career starts against the Evil Empire and is 8-3 with a 4.15 ERA. Seven of those starts have come at the Fens where he is 2-1 with a 4.76 ERA.

Ivan Nova looks to widen the gap betweent the Yankees and Red Sox in his 17th start of 2012. In his previous 16 starts, Nova is 9-3 with a 4.05 ERA. He picked up the win in his only start of 2012 against the local nine when he allowed two runs in six innings of work on April 20th. Nova has made five career appearances (four starts) agaisnt the Red Sox and is 1-2 with a 5.70 ERA. Three of those appearances (two starts) have come at the Fens where he is 1-1 with a 4.97 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:

51-33		43-42
1. Derek Jeter	SS	1. Daniel Nava	LF
2. Curtis Granderson	CF	2. Pedro Ciriaco	2B
3. Mark Teixeira	1B	3. David Ortiz	DH
4. Alex Rodriguez	3B	4. Adrian Gonzalez	1B
5. Robinson Cano	DH	5. Cody Ross	RF
6. Nick Swisher	RF	6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C
7. Andruw Jones	LF	7. Ryan Sweeney	CF
8. Jayson Nix	2B	8. Mauro Gomez	3B
9. Chris Stewart	C	9. Mike Aviles	SS
Ivan Nova	SP	Jon Lester	SP

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

NOTES: 

REFRESH OR CHECK BACK OFTEN AS MORE LINKS WILL BE ADDED BEFORE GAMETIME IF/WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AND WILL BE BOLDED

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

A matter of give and take for Sox [boston herald]

Carl Crawford likely needs Tommy John surgery [boston herald]

Crawford on elbow: “At some point it’s going to blow out” [clubhouse insider]

Clay Buchholz tosses 2-1/3 scoreless innings in Triple-A tuneup [clubhouse insider]

Buchholz impresses in rehab start at Pawtucket [csn new england]

Padilla: Texeira might ‘be better off playing a woman’s sport’ [csn new england]

Buchholz calls his start ‘mediocre’ . . . but the results weren’t [csn new england]

More rehab: Ellsbury gets a hit, Bard is a hit [csn new england]

Crawford admits surgery for elbow possible at some point [csn new england]

Buchholz rehab solid, set to return Saturday [espn boston]

Middlebrooks feels good, but still sitting out [espn boston]

Ellsbury likely to return before Crawford [espn boston]

Lester to get long break [espn boston]

Crawford “thought” about elbow surgery, held off [espn boston]

Clay Buchholz throws scoreless rehab start for Pawtucket [extra bases]

Offseason surgery likely for Carl Crawford [extra bases]

Will Middlebrooks, Jacoby Ellsbury close to returning [extra bases]

Mark Teixeira calls Vicente Padilla’s comments ‘crazy’ [extra bases]

Red Sox at the All-Star Futures Game [full count]

Do the Red Sox Have a Better Chance Now of Making the Playoffs Than They Did on Opening Day? [nesn.com]

Pedro Ciriaco Makes Case to Start for Red Sox, Although Not Necessarily at Shortstop [nesn.com]

Red Sox Prospect Ryan Westmoreland Works Way Back From Brain Surgery (Video) [nesn.com]

Vicente Padilla Doesn’t Budge From Stance, Says Mark Teixeira Cries About Everything [nesn.com]

Buchholz to return Saturday against Rays [mike petraglia – weei.com]

Crawford: Elbow will ‘blow out on me’ [mike petraglia – weei.com]

Bobby V: Yankees are ‘catchable’ [mike petraglia – weei.com]

The last PawSox All-Star left at Triple-A, Lavarnway still biding his time [projo sox blog]

Buchholz throws 43 pitches in rehab start for PawSox [projo sox blog]

Bard bounces back from erratic outing with 1-2-3 inning [projo sox blog]

Crawford admits elbow surgery “probably” inevitable [projo sox blog]

Middlebrooks should be 100 percent in Tampa [projo sox blog]

Rotation not set after break [projo sox blog]

Lester looks to end up-and-down first half with win [redsox.com]

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

photo credits: ap photo, getty images

As they did with Tim Wakefield after he retired, the Boston Red Sox will honor their former catcher Jason Varitek with a “Thanks, Tek Day” on July 21st.

Here’s the release from the Red Sox:

BOSTON, MA — The Boston Red Sox will honor Jason Varitek July 21 with ‘Thanks, Tek Day’ at Fenway Park. The club plays the Toronto Blue Jays at 7:10 p.m. A pre-game ceremony tribute is expected to begin at approximately 6:30 p.m.

Named the 18^th full-time captain in Red Sox history on December 24, 2004, Varitek was behind the plate in a club-record 1,488 contests.  He appeared in 15 seasons with the club, the fourth-longest tenured Red Sox ever who never played for another Major League team behind Carl Yastrzemski (23), Ted Williams (19) and Jim Rice (16).  Varitek announced his retirement March 1, 2012, at the Red Sox’ new Spring Training site, JetBlue Park at Fenway South in Lee County, Florida.

A three-time All-Star (2003, 2005 and 2008), Varitek was named the Red Sox Rookie of the Year in 1998 and won the club’s MVP Award in 2003.  The switch-hitter became the first Boston catcher ever to win a Silver Slugger Award when he received the honor in 2005, the same year he was also honored with a Rawlings Gold Glove Award.

Varitek won World Series Championships with Boston in 2004 and 2007 and is the club’s all-time postseason leader in games (63) and at-bats (228).  He also ranks second among Red Sox postseason leaders in runs (37), hits (54), doubles (12) and home runs (tied, 11), and is third in RBI (33).  Varitek is third in all-time postseason starts (58) and games at catcher (62), behind Jorge Posada (106, 119) and Yogi Berra (61, 63).

The 1999 winner of the Jackie Jensen Hustle Award from the Boston Chapter of the BBWAA and 2006 recipient of the Red Sox Heart and Hustle Award, Varitek has been an active participant in the Red Sox community outreach.  Through his Tek’s 33s ticket program, he invited patients from Children’s Hospital Boston to games throughout the season and met with the groups during batting practice.  He hosted an annual celebrity putt-putt event, which recently benefitted Journey Forward, a non-profit organization that aims to better the lives of those with spinal injuries, and often auctioned off specially designed game-worn catcher’s gear with proceeds going to Boston-area non-profit organizations.

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

photo credit: reuters pictures

Whether we want to believe it or not, recent callups Pedro Ciriaco and Mauro Gomez may have saved the season for the Boston Red Sox last night in the second game of the doubleheader.

After the New York Yankees took the first game in the afternoon and got out to 3-0 lead in the 1st inning of the second game on a Mark Teixeira home run, things were looking mighty bleak for the local nine. But the Red Sox managed to chip away against the lead scoring single runs in the 3rd and 5th innings off of Phil Hughes.

In the 6th inning, things took a change for the better as they managed to load up the bases against Hughes. And it was Ciriaco who provided the big hit as his bases clearing double gave the Red Sox a 5-3 lead

Felix Doubront gave a run back in the 7th when Andruw Jones hit a solo home run, his third of the day as he had hit two in the first game of the day-night doubleheader. The Red Sox managed to put the game away in the bottom half though.

Adrian Gonzalez led off the inning with a double and came around to score two batters later on a Ryan Sweeney triple. Sweeney had been activated before the game after spending time on the DL with a bad toe. Ryan Kalish was optioned to make room for Sweeney. Gomez followed the Sweeney triple with a RBI double. Mike Aviles pinch-ran for Gomez and he scored on a Ciriaco double.

With Daniel Nava at the plate, Ciriaco stole third and scored when Russell Martin‘s attempt to throw him out ended up down the line in left field.

Ciriaco’s speed brings a different element to the Red Sox right now with Jacoby Ellsbury out of the lineup. Obviously the stolen base is one example. Another would be in the 5th inning when Curtis Granderson made an error. Ciriaco was standing halfway between first and second watching the play develop and once he saw the ball dropped, he used his wheels to get to third base. Nick Punto brought him in for the second run of the game.

When Doubront gave up the three run homer to Teixeira in the 1st, it marked the third straight game the Red Sox found themselves trailing before they’d get their hacks. But he settled down nicely and kept his team in the game allowing the offense to mount a comeback.

The first game was quite ugly.

The Red Sox normally have good success against Freddy Garcia. But with what basically amounted to a spring training lineup, the inexperience of the lineup showed as they were very impatient with Garcia. Instead of making him work, they made a lot of first pitch swings.

Franklin Morales had been pretty dominant as a starter. The difference though it wasn’t against a lineup that is as strong as the Yankees put out on a daily basis. He left a lot of pitches out over the meat of the plate and the Yanks took advantage of that by hitting four home runs, including the aforementioned two by Jones.

Justin Germano saved the Red Sox bullpen for the second game though by throwing 5.2 innings of scoreless baseball. If it weren’t for him the Red Sox bullpen could have been in a world of hurt for the second game.

Another win for the Red Sox tonight would huge.

For starters, it would keep them above .500 and it would also keep them from being in the basement at the All-Star break. And while a win would mean they didn’t gain any ground on the Yankees over the four game series, it would keep them alive in the wild card race. Plus, there’s always what they would do at the trade deadline.

And with the the second wild card this year, things are a lot more interesting as to what teams will do, the Red Sox included.

We’ll be back later with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take at look at the overnight links from the media by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

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

Later on [boston globe]

This team has big-time trust issues [boston globe]

Garcia much more lively in this start [bston globe]

Another setback for Crawford [boston globe]

New faces help Sox rally in 2nd after losing opener [boston herald]

Sox’ numbers don’t lie [boston herald]

Fastball struggles sink Franklin Morales [boston herald]

Adrian Gonzalez’ focus singular [boston herald]

Carl Crawford hits another snag [boston herald]

Second opinions confirm Pedroia diagnosis [rob bradford – weei.com]

Ciriaco leads Red Sox to 9-5 victory over Yankees [csn new england]

Gonzalez extends hitting streak to 18 games [csn new england]

Doubront earns ninth win [csn new england]

Valentine: ‘I believe in (Gomez) as a hitter’ [csn new england]

Valentine: Ciriaco ‘a nice breath of fresh air’ [csn new england]

Germano makes strong case for rotation [espn boston]

MLB chastises Sox for showing replay [espn boston]

Depleted Sox lineup offers little resistance [espn boston]

Morales falls back to Earth vs. Yanks [espn boston]

Unlikely heroes Ciriaco, Gomez lift Sox [espn boston]

Say hello to ‘Pedro, Pedro, Pedro’ 2.0 [espn boston]

If Carl Crawford needs surgery eventually, Boston Red Sox should shut him down now [espn boston]

Jarrod Saltalamacchia: ‘We didn’t brush [Mark Teixeira] back and look what happened’ [full count]

Freddy Garcia redeems himself at Fenway [full count]

Did Justin Germano prove he can start for the Red Sox, or someone else? [full count]

Closing Time: Pedro Ciriaco, Mauro Gomez stars in Red Sox win [full count]

‘Pedro, Pedro, Pedro’ chants humble Pedro Ciriaco after breakout game: ‘I’m here for my glove’ [full count]

Nuggetpalooza’s stat of the day: Getaway Sunday [full count]

Felix Doubront Uses Determination as Tool in Red Sox Comeback Victory [nesn.com]

Mark Teixeira Should Play ‘Women’s Sport,’ Is Scared of Getting Hit by Pitches, Vicente Padilla Says [nesn.com]

Salvage effort: Ciriaco, Sox split DH [mike petraglia – weei.com]

Doubront shakes off early home run to finish first half strong [projo sox blog]

Throwback night: New Pedro ignites Red Sox [redsox.com]

Ellsbury progressing after latest rehab start [redsox.com]

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the ESPN New York, New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times and The Journal News websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brother, NYY Stadium Insider.

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