One of the players, indirectly or directly responsible depending on your point of view, who played a role in Wednesday night’s loss for the Boston Red Sox to the Tampa Bay Rays, was a big reason why the Red Sox were winners on Thursday night.

Obviously Clay Buchholz didn’t balk in any runs last night so we are talking about Cody Ross. It was Ross who misjudged a fly ball the other night that allowed the Rays to get the winning run.

On Thursday night, he was huge at the plate.

After falling behind 0-2 with the bases loaded in the 1st inning against Rays starter Matt Moore, Ross got the count in his favor and eventually worked in a walk to force in a run. In the 3rd inning, his home run put the Red Sox up 3-0 after Marlon Byrd had homered in the 2nd to make it 2-0.

And with the Red Sox holding on to a 3-2 lead in the 8th, Ross knocked in two runs with a single to give them a little more breathing room.

It turned out they would need those two runs.

Vicente Padilla allowed a one-out double in the bottom half of the inning to Matthew Joyce then hit Rich Thompson. And after Ben Zobrist grounded into a fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners, Bobby Valentine went to his closer Alfredo Aceves who came in and allowed a run scoring single to B.J. Upton. He escaped any further damage after a wild pitch when he got Luke Scott to ground out to second.

Aceves had no issues in the bottom of the 9th when he got three groundouts to preserve the win for Red Sox starter Felix Doubront.

After throwing the ball well on Saturday night, Doubront gave the Red Sox a solid 5.2 innings last night. He did have a rough 4th inning after relatively cruising through his first three innings although there was a small bump in the 3rd.

Doubront almost got through the 3rd by throwing just six pitches but unfortunately Kelly Shoppach was called for catcher’s interference that allowed Upton to reach first. Then he hit Scott with a pitch and Jeff Keppinger followed with a run scoring single.

In the 4th, he got himself out of a mess he created when Scott lined out to Adrian Gonzalez to end the inning. That 4th inning ran up his pitch count and almost sent him to an early shower.

Before that though, Doubront was throwing well. He ended up striking out seven.

Obviously the high pitch counts for Doubront are a little troublesome. But when he’s be on, he’s been really effective. If he can work out his control issues when they do arise, he could end up being a very valuable weapon for the Red Sox.

The Red Sox are now off to Philadelphia where they’ll meet up with old friend Jonathan Papelbon. Hopefully the Red Sox will get to face him and exact their revenge on him for leaving. I kid I kid. Or am I?

We’ll be back later on today 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.

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Red Sox pull out all the stops to beat the Rays [Boston Globe]

Let’s pick things up right here [Boston Globe]

Converted closer [Boston Globe]

Ranaudo eager for new start [Boston Globe]

Arguing too much would not be a good call [Boston Globe]

Ortiz prepared to take field [Boston Globe]

Cody Ross leads Sox past Rays [Boston Herald]

David Ortiz ready to play field [Boston Herald]

Red Sox in search of good news [Boston Herald]

Adrian Gonzalez call was no hit [Boston Herald]

Aviles: ‘I definitely lost my cool’ after call [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]

Ross leads Sox over Rays, 5-3 [CSN New England]

Sense of urgency fuels Sox victory [CSN New England]

Bullpen vital in Red Sox’ resurgence [CSN New England]

Ross makes amends with four-RBI game [CSN New England]

Valentine: Youk will rejoin Sox on trip [ESPN Boston]

Rapid Reaction: Red Sox 5, Rays 3 [ESPN Boston]

Aviles ejected, Pedroia upset with ump [ESPN Boston]

A-Gon barely misses calling his shot [ESPN Boston]

Boston Red Sox on a roll entering interleague play at Philadelphia Phillies [ESPN Boston]

David Ortiz showing ‘no fear’ as return to first base looms [Full Count]

Closing Time: Felix Doubront, Cody Ross help Red Sox get the upper-hand against the Rays [Full Count]

Matt Moore adds to the drama of Adrian Gonzalez’ home run guarantee [Full Count]

Jonathan Papelbon Needs to ‘Shut Up’ With Comments About Red Sox (Video) [NESN.com]

Jonathan Papelbon’s Alter-Ego ‘Cinco’ Has No Sympathy for Red Sox, ‘Smells Blood Like Great White Shark’ [NESN.com]

Cody Ross Continues to Prove Vital to Red Sox Success With All-Star Caliber Play [NESN.com]

Marlon Byrd Feeling More Confident After Hitting First Home Run With Red Sox (Video) [NESN.com]

Jonathan Papelbon Presents ‘Different Kind of Crazy’ in Closers Role (Video) [NESN.com]

Youkilis to resume rehab stint on Friday [RedSox.com]

Papi to break out first baseman’s mitt in Philly [RedSox.com]

Dice-K shaky again in Minors rehab start [RedSox.com]

Adrian’s homer prediction comes up short [RedSox.com]

Aviles loses his cool, earns first career ejection [RedSox.com]

Ross finds redemption with four-RBI night [RedSox.com]

What a relief: Sox’s bullpen comes up clutch [RedSox.com]

Why Daniel Bard is thinking a lot about hitting these days [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

Podcast: A turn around the rotation [Touching All The Bases]

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 Tampa Bay Times and Tampa Tribune websites.

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

photo credit: 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

Several Former UConn Football Players Getting Exposure At NFL Camps [Hartford Courant]

Alumnus Talks Football on Big East Broadcasts [UConn Today]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

USA U18 Trials Begin In Colorado Springs [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Samuelson’s college choice came down to family [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Enosch Wolf: Still Hasn’t Got What He Came To Storrs For [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Evaluating the 2012 draft, Part II: High-risk, high-reward prospects [SI.com]

Other UConn related links

Baseball. Fischer Dominates Notre Dame in Weekend Opener [UConnHuskies.com]

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

After falling 2-1 last night, the Boston Red Sox look for a split of their two-game set tonight with the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Rays television market, you can catch the game on Sun Sports. And if you don’t live in either market you are in luck as MLB Network will also have coverage of the game. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to it on the Red Sox radio network.

Felix Doubront looks for his fourth win of 2012 in his eighth start of the season. In his previous seven starts, Doubront is 3-1 with a 4.46 ERA. He picked up a no decision against the Rays on April 15th when he allowed four runs in five innings of work. He’s made five appearances (two starts) against the Rays in his career and is 0-1 with a 4.61 ERA.  Four of those appearances (one start) have come at the Trop where he is 0-1 with a 3.12 ERA.

Matt Moore looks to put his struggles aside in his eight start of 2012. In his previous seven starts, Moore is 1-3 with a 5.31 ERA. He was matched up with Doubront on April 15th and took the loss after allowing six runs in 6.1 innings of work. Moore has made two appearances (one start) against the Red Sox in his career and is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA (7 ER/9.1 IP).

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:

17-20		24-14
1. Mike Aviles	SS	1. Ben Zobrist	RF
2. Dustin Pedroia	2B	2. B.J. Upton	CF
3. David Ortiz	DH	3. Luke Scott	DH
4. Adrian Gonzalez	1B	4. Jeff Keppinger	2B
5. Will Middlebrooks	3B	5. Carlos Pena	1B
6. Cody Ross	RF	6. Sean Rodriguez	3B
7. Daniel Nava	LF	7. Elliot Johnson	SS
8. Marlon Byrd	CF	8. Chris Gimenez	C
9. Kelly Shoppach	C	9. Rich Thompson	LF
Felix Doubront	SP	Matt Moore	SP

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

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

Red Sox Pitching Must Continue to Improve, Still Biggest Key to Getting Back Into AL East Race [Tom Caron – NESN.com]

With smoother delivery, Andrew Miller provides relief for Red Sox [Clubhouse Insider]

David Ortiz ready for inter-league cameo at first base [Clubhouse Insider]

Bowden: Francona may replace Scioscia as Angels manager [CSN New England]

Ortiz to play first in interleague play [CSN New England]

Checking on repeat players [ESPN Boston]

Some random Red Sox thoughts from Florida [Extra Bases]

Ask Nick: Can Middlebrooks play shortstop? [Extra Bases]

Fenway Park’s 100th anniversary inspires ‘Color of Baseball in Boston’ exhibit [Extra Bases]

Terry Francona takes honorary USA Baseball post [Extra Bases]

David Ortiz ready to take the field in Philly [Extra Bases]

Umpires and guarantees aside, Adrian Gonzalez has some figuring out to do [Full Count]

Jerry Remy on D&C: ‘The only option I see is having [Will Middlebrooks] go to Pawtucket’ [Full Count]

Ryan Sweeney and the Red Sox leadoff spot not getting along [Full Count]

Adrian Gonzalez Criticizes Umpires’ Strike Zones, But Promises Home Run Will Come Thursday [NESN.com]

Red Sox Hoping Carlos Pena, B.J. Upton Stay Cold in Finale of Quick Two-Game Series [NESN.com]

How Should Bobby Valentine Decide Between Kevin Youkilis and Will Middlebrooks? [NESN.com]

Ortiz likely to play first base, Gonzalez right field at least once in Philadelphia [Projo Sox Blog]

Youkilis to play third base for PawSox on Friday [Projo Sox Blog]

Red Sox eye series split behind Doubront [RedSox.com]

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

Photo credits: Getty Images, AP Photo

Are you wondering if you’ll be able to see the Boston Red Sox take on the Philadelphia Phillies on FOX on Saturday night?

Well here’s the breakdown courtesy of Fang’s Bites:

Boston Red Sox at Philadelphia Phillies – 39%
ANNOUNCERS: Joe Buck, Tim McCarver & Ken Rosenthal
MARKETS INCLUDE: Boston, Buffalo, Fort Myers, Hartford, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Providence, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, West Palm Beach

Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs – 26%
ANNOUNCERS: Thom Brennaman & Eric Karros
MARKETS INCLUDE: Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Louisville, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, Salt Lake City, St. Louis

Baltimore Orioles at Washington Nationals – 17%
ANNOUNCERS: Bob Carpenter & Billy Ripken
MARKETS INCLUDE:  Atlanta, Baltimore, Birmingham, Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Norfolk, Raleigh, Richmond, Washington

Texas Rangers at Houston Astros – 13%
ANNOUNCERS: Kenny Albert & Tom Verducci
MARKETS INCLUDE:  Austin, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Tulsa

Arizona Diamondbacks at Kansas City Royals – 4%
ANNOUNCERS: Daron Sutton & Rex Hudler
MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Kansas City, Phoenix

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

Two mental errors, a balk by Clay Buchholz and a misplayed fly ball in right by Cody Ross, plus some good Tampa Bay Rays pitching was the difference for the Boston Red Sox in their 2-1 loss last night.

We all know that Buchholz has this fascination with throwing over to first base when runners are on base.

With runners on first and third in the 2nd inning, Buchholz double clutched his pickoff throw to first base and a balk was called forcing in Carlos Pena from third with the game’s first run. Buchholz did get out of the inning by striking out Jose Molina.

The 6th inning proved to be the deciding factor in this game.

Matthew Joyce led off the inning with a single that went off the heel of Buchholz. Pena followed that with a single and Red Sox skipper Bobby Valentine had seen enough and summoned Andrew Miller from the bullpen.

Miller got a fly ball from Fenway favorite Luke Scott that went to shallow right field. The problem was that Ross totally misjudged it and ran in too far and that allowed Joyce to score from third despite a strong throw from Ross.

There’s always the possibility that Ross lost the ball with the horrible roof conditions at Tropicana Field. But in that tight of a game, that turned out to the be the difference.

There’s also the question of why did Valentine pull Buchholz from the game after 87 pitches in the 5th inning. He did say after the game that he wanted to be cautious with Buchholz because of the line drive that had hit him. I can understand the cautiousness but Buchholz didn’t seem to be showing any signs that it was bothering him.

But overall, you have to be pleased with the effort Buchholz gave on Wednesday night.

The changeup which had been missing from his arsenal all season long reappeared magically out of thin air and was one of his most effective pitches of the night. Couple that with his nasty curveball along with increased velocity on his fastball and it looks as though he’s turned the corner. The best part of all those pitches was the fact he had command and good location on all of them.

He ended up with five strikeouts on the night and got 14 swing-and-misses.

Daniel Nava provided the only run of the night with a RBI single that scored Jarrod Saltalamacchia who had two hits on the night. Mike Aviles also had two hits for the visiting nine.

There was one scary moment in the game after Morales hit Will Rhymes with a fastball in the forearm in the 8th. After being checked out by the trainer, Rhymes went down to first base. But while the Red Sox were making a pitching change, Rhymes asked to come out of the game and collapsed into the Rays’ first base coach’s arms. He would leave the game on the cart. X-Rays after the game showed he had just a bruise and Rhymes himself said he likely passed out due to an adrenaline rush.

Obviously right now, things are still looking up for the Red Sox. They got a solid outing from Buchholz although since he didn’t make it six innings, the quality start streak ended at five. But with Buchholz rediscovering his changeup, we know hope that he continues the good pitching in his next start out.

We’ll be back later on today 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

Red Sox stumble a bit vs. Rays as win streak ends [Boston Globe]

Not all the right moves [Boston Globe]

Matsuzaka not seen as close [Boston Globe]

Red Sox pay for a misplay [Boston Herald]

Felix Doubront hopes to get Moore out of matchup [Boston Herald]

Difficult math in this division [Boston Herald]

Adrian Gonzalez slams plate ump calls [Boston Herald]

Sox balk three, lose 2-1 to Rays to end streak [CSN New England]

Gammons: Doubts aplenty about Youkilis’ health [CSN New England]

Buchholz has roller coaster evening [CSN New England]

Valentine: Sox’ balks ‘like an epidemic’ [CSN New England]

Valentine: Dice-K isn’t ‘all that close’ [ESPN Boston]

Rapid Reaction: Rays 2, Red Sox 1 [ESPN Boston]

Valentine: Balks ‘like an epidemic’ [ESPN Boston]

Boston Red Sox’s Adrian Gonzalez rips ump, promises homer [ESPN Boston]

What to make of Daisuke Matsuzaka’s immediate future [Full Count]

You might want to pay attention to how Andrew Bailey grips a baseball [Full Count]

Closing Time: Clay Buchholz, Red Sox slowed down by Jeremy Hellickson, Rays [Full Count]

Tampa Bay’s Will Rhymes OK after collapsing on field [Full Count]

Nuggetpalooza: Stat nuggets from the Red Sox week [Full Count]

Umpires and guarantees aside, Adrian Gonzalez has some figuring out to do [Full Count]

Clay Buchholz Shows Shades of Old Self With Strong Changeup, Curveball [NESN.com]

Red Sox Pitchers Hurt Themselves in Loss With Careless Balks [NESN.com]

Bobby Valentine Talks About Taking Chances, The Balk Epidemic, and How to Get Red Sox Moving [NESN.com]

Clay Buchholz Enthused by Velocity, Command of Pitches (Video) [NESN.com]

Bobby Valentine Says Cody Ross’ Outfield Misplay Had Impact on Red Sox Loss (Video) [NESN.com]

Kevin Youkilis Posts Strong Performance in Rehab Stop With Pawtucket (Video) [NESN.com]

Adrian vows to go deep, takes shot at ump [RedSox.com]

Youk goes 1-for-2 with walk in first rehab game [RedSox.com]

Rhymes OK after plunking, fainting spelling [RedSox.com]

Balk, short flyout halts Red Sox’s winning streak [RedSox.com]

Date with Phils, Pap opens Interleague slate [RedSox.com]

Dice-K trying to iron out mechanical flaws [RedSox.com]

Valentine searching for leadoff hitter [RedSox.com]

Bailey gets encouraging report on thumb [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 Tampa Bay Times and Tampa Tribune websites.

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

photo credit: AP Photo

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

A Farewell To Memorial Stadium [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Auriemma Named Director Of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Samuelson To Join Her Sister At Stanford [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Hayes, Swanier make Atlanta’s opening day roster [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Notes/Quotes from UConn: “(Calhoun) will let everyone know when he wants to, including his own players.” [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

Other UConn related links

M. Soccer. Men’s Soccer Foreign Tour, Day 6 [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Soccer. Men’s Soccer Downs Hamilton Rage Of PDL, 3-2 [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Ice Hockey. Take The Captain’s Challenge [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball. Baseball Hosts Notre Dame for Regular Season Finale [UConnHuskies.com]

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