After two days off, one due to Hurricane Irene and one that was scheduled, the Boston Red Sox continue their nine-game homestand tonight at Historic Fenway Park. They’ll welcome their AL East rivals the New York Yankees to town in the first of three-game set.

Today’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. and will be broadcast in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the Yankees’s broadcast area, you can catch the game on MY9. If you don’t live in either market, you could be in luck as the MLB Network is scheduled to have coverage of the game in certain markets as well. And if you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2011 Red Sox Radio Network.

John Lackey takes the bump for the 23rd time this tonight. In his previous 22 starts, Lackey is 12-9 with a 5.98 ERA. He’s made two starts against the Yankees this year and is 2-0 with a 7.36 ERA (9 ER/11 IP). Lackey’s made 21 career starts against the Yankees and is 8-8 with a 4.67 ERA. Four of those starts have come at the Fens where he is 3-0 with a 4.01 ERA.

CC Sabathia looks to exercise his demons against the Red Sox this season. He’s made four starts against them in 2011 and is 0-4 with a 7.20 ERA. Before this season as a member of the Yankees (2009-10), Sabathia had been 4-1 with a 3.04 ERA in eight starts. Overall in his career, Sabathia is 6-9 with a 4.19 ERA in 19 starts against the Red Sox. Nine of those starts have come at the Fens where he is 2-4 with a 4.47 ERA. Tonight will mark his 29th start of the season. In his previous 28 starts, he is 17-7 with a 2.99 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 this evening’s lineups:

80-52		82-51
1. Brett Gardner	LF	1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF
2. Derek Jeter	SS	2. Marco Scutaro	SS
3. Curtis Granderson	CF	3. Adrian Gonzalez	1B
4. Mark Teixeira	1B	4. Dustin Pedroia	2B
5. Robinson Cano	2B	5. David Ortiz	DH
6. Nick Swisher	RF	6. Jed Lowrie	3B
7. Eric Chavez	3B	7. Carl Crawford	LF
8. Jorge Posada	DH	8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C
9. Francisco Cervelli	C	9. Darnell McDonald	RF
CC Sabathia	SP	John Lackey	SP

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

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

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

Wakefield to be pushed back, Buchholz throws [Clubhouse Insider]

Notes: Buchholz begins throwing again [CSN New England]

Video: Edes on Sox-Yankees series [ESPN Boston]

Podcast: Edes on Sox-Yankees [ESPN Boston]

How the Red Sox have solved CC [ESPN Boston]

Sox face CC (0-4 vs. Boston) tonight [ESPN Boston]

Wakefield to be skipped against Texas [ESPN Boston]

Sox to proceed ‘deliberately’ with Buchholz [ESPN Boston]

Drew to return Thursday, Youkilis on Friday [ESPN Boston]

Audio: Francona on ESPN Radio NY [ESPN Boston]

Bradley moves from tee box to pitcher’s mound [ESPN Boston]

Red Sox resurface infield [Extra Bases]

Update on Kevin Youkilis and J.D. Drew [Extra Bases]

Clay Buchholz starts throwing [Extra Bases]

Rotation set for the Texas series [Extra Bases]

Behind Enemy Lines: A-Rod out of lineup, status uncertain [Extra Bases]

Keegan Bradley: “First pitch dream come true” [Extra Bases]

Red Sox sending six to Arizona Fall League [Extra Bases]

Red Sox Notes: Andrew Miller will start against Texas [Full Count]

Can Alex Rodriguez Still Be a Factor This Season? [NESN.com]

Red Sox Mailbag: Another Jacoby Ellsbury Trade Wish and What to Do With Tim Wakefield [NESN.com]

CC Sabathia Has Awful Numbers Against Red Sox This Season, But It’s Still Hard to Bet Against Him [NESN.com]

Video: Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury Among Red Sox Players Inspired By Stories of Jimmy Fund Patients [NESN.com]

Clay Buchholz Among Red Sox Who Understand Communication Is Key to Prevention of Injuries [NESN.com]

Red Sox Shuffle Rotation for Weekend Series With Rangers, Tim Wakefield to Make Next Start in Toronto [NESN.com]

Keegan Bradley Excited About Homecoming, But a Nervous Wreck Over Throwing Out First Pitch at Fenway Park [NESN.com]

J.D. Drew Due Back Thursday, Kevin Youkilis Expected to Return Friday As Red Sox Reload for Final Month [NESN.com]

Video: Andrew Miller Has Earned Right to Stay in Red Sox Rotation Despite Tim Wakefield’s Quest for 200 Wins [NESN.com]

Clay Buchholz Throws From 60 Feet, a Small But ‘Exciting’ Step for Red Sox Righty [NESN.com]

Red Sox Face Difficult Test Over Rest of Homestand With Yankees, Rangers Coming to Town [NESN.com]

A Series Matter: Red Sox-Yankees and September [Projo Sox Blog]

Q&A: Yankees beat writer Daniel Barbarisi [Projo Sox Blog]

Youkilis, Drew to play for PawSox tonight [Projo Sox Blog]

Doubront’s transition to bullpen well underway [Projo Sox Blog]

Clay Buchholz throws with “no problems, no pain” [Projo Sox Blog]

Beyeler to manage Hassan and Middlebrooks — plus Harper and Trout — in Arizona Fall League [Projo Sox Blog]

Jenks back with Red Sox; Drew, Youkilis with PawSox [Projo Sox Blog]

Miller to start Friday, Wakefield pushed back [Projo Sox Blog]

Rodriguez likely out for series with Sox [Projo Sox Blog]

Lackey set to take on Yanks [RedSox.com]

East positioning continues as Sox host Yanks [RedSox.com]

Boston’s Castiglione, Remy on Frick Award ballot [RedSox.com]

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

Photo credits: Reuters Pictures, AP Photo

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

With the New York Yankees beating the Baltimore Orioles last night, the Boston Red Sox will welcome the Yanks to Historic Fenway Park with a 1.5 game lead in the American League East. The Red Sox record stands at 82-51 while the Yankees are 80-52.

During yesterday’s post, I had said the Red Sox had a 2.5 game lead but I was incorrect as the MLB.com standings were actually wrong at that time. So hence why I wanted to lead off with that for today. I do apologize. And because of those incorrect standings, some of the other things I had written were wrong too.

The Yankees lead the wild card by 7.5 games over the Rays. So say the Red Sox were to sweep, it would put the Rays back in the race if they won their next three games as well. Barring a colossal collapse by either the Yankees or Red Sox, both of them should make the playoffs this year.

You definitely think the Red Sox want to win the division. If they did, they’d probably matchup with the winner of the AL Central which at this time is the Detroit Tigers. The Texas Rangers currently lead the AL West.. Honestly I don’t think the Red Sox care who they play in the playoffs.

If the Red Sox are to win the AL East, they would get home field advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs as whomever wins the AL East should end up with the best record in the American League. Home field advantage this year in the World Series belongs to the National League since they won the 2011 All-Star Game (stupid rule by the way).

Rosters will expand on Thursday and with the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox likely to make the International League Playoffs, I can’t see the Red Sox completely raiding their roster. They might take a guy or two for the bullpen but that’s about all I see until they are done.

However, they should welcome Kevin Youkilis and J.D. Drew back to the team. We might even see Bobby Jenks come off the DL as well but like you, I’d rather see him stay there for the rest of the year.

We’ll be back later with tonight’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and news from the day. So for now enjoy the overnight links from the media.

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

Video: Alec Baldwin Tells John Krasinski To Call 912 [SOX & Dawgs]

Dynamic duo: Ellsbury, Granderson embody game’s new superstar class [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

Likely to be pitched battle [Boston Globe]

Playing well is Sox’ 1st priority [Boston Globe]

Devil in the details for the Yankees [Boston Globe]

Sox like steady diet of Aceves [Boston Herald]

Down the stretch they come [Boston Herald]

Sox vs. Yankees: A battle of matchups [Boston Herald]

‘Just make the playoffs’ [Boston Herald]

Who will be the beast of the AL East? [Clubhouse Insider]

Girardi: A-Rod ‘really questionable’ to face Red Sox [Clubhouse Insider]

Miller taking well to his role in the bullpen [CSN New England]

Nation STATion: Nine facts for Ted Williams’ birthday [CSN New England]

Sox enter Yankees series with ‘good mental break’ [CSN New England]

State of the rotations: Red Sox-Yankees [ESPN Boston]

Keegan Bradley to throw out first pitch at Fenway Park tomorrow [Extra Bases]

Giving up on Wakefield would be a mistake [Extra Bases]

Ask Nick: Where Wakefield fits in [Extra Bases]

Updates on Yankee injuries and some Red Sox charitable endeavors [Extra Bases]

Terry Francona’s Red Sox Closing In on 100 Wins, a Goal Once Thought to Be Abandoned [NESN.com]

Video: Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett Spend Off-Day Giving Back to Boston Community [NESN.com]

Monday Nuggetpalooza! [Nuggetpalooza]

Aceves refuses to lose [Projo Sox Blog]

Postseason almost assured, Sox aren’t settling for wildcard [Providence Journal]

Adrian Gonzalez Named AL Player of the Week [RedSox.com]

Lucchino ‘amped’ for Yankees series [RedSox.com]

MV-Three: Red Sox trio quite valuable [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.

Photo credit: Getty Images

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 some of the other sports. 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 power rankings: Week 1 [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Irene can’t stop the media…some Monday notes [Chip Malafronte – New Haven Register]

DC answered some questions in his mailbag [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Game week [Joe Perez – Norwich Bulletin]

Fordham press conference [Joe Perez – Norwich Bulletin]

(Tuesday) Monday Presser [John Silver – Journal Inquirer]

Huskies getting ready, quarterbacks still in the dark [Neill Ostrout – CT Post]

Video View: Paul Pasqualoni Monday In Storrs [Shawn Courchesne – Hartford Courant]

Pasqualoni’s goal: Maintain success [Boston Globe]

UConn’s 3 QBs all feel as if they have a chance to start [CT Post]

UConn’s Shoemate, McCombs Both Expected To Have Plenty Of Carries [Hartford Courant]

New Guards Report For Duty [Hartford Courant]

Time to run [John Silver – Journal Inquirer]

All three QBs may see action in season opener [New Haven Register]

UConn’s Pasqualoni mum on quarterback decision [Norwich Bulletin]

New era, veteran coach at UConn [The Day]

BIG EAST Football Notebook — UConn, three others kick-off season on Thursday [The Hour]

Big East Football preview [National Football Post]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Bradley May Give Up Scholarship [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Mailbag 8/29: Should UConn Be Worried About New Academic Policies? [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

UConn 2011 Highlights [UConn Huskies Basketball]

UConn Talks With Michael Bradley About Giving Up Scholarship [Hartford Courant]

Michael Bradley exploring giving up scholarship to make room for Andre Drummond [New Haven Register]

Andre Drummond in mix for No. 1 pick [Chad Ford – ESPN Insider]

Other UConn related links

Field Hockey. Four Different Huskies Score to Lead Field Hockey Past No. 20 Stanford, 4-2 [UConnHuskies.com]

Field Hockey. Connecticut and Syracuse Take Season’s First BIG EAST Field Hockey Weekly Honors [BigEast.org]

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

Since Hurricane Irene forced the Boston Red Sox to play a doubleheader on Saturday in which she tried to stop as well, they got to enjoy an extra day off yesterday. Couple that with today’s scheduled day off and the Red Sox should be well rested for the upcoming three-game set with the New York Yankees that begins on Tuesday.

The Yankees won’t get into town until probably early Tuesday morning since they are playing the Baltimore Orioles again. They’ll have also played three games in two days with no rest while the Red Sox will have had two days off to recover from theirs.

The Red Sox have already won the season series with the Yanks since they hold a 10-2 advantage right now. We know you can throw that out the window when these two teams play and the Red Sox will definitely be more rested.

The Yankees will come into this series either down two games to the Red Sox or three games. The lead sits at 2.5 games right now but with the Red Sox off today, the best the Yanks can do is gain a ½ game or at worst lose ½ game.

What makes this series interesting is what could happen if the Red Sox sweep the series. Say the Tampa Bay Rays win on the same three nights, they would cut the Yankees lead in the wild card to just three games. Obviously the Rays wouldn’t get any closer to the Red Sox at this point but it would set up an interesting month of September to say the least.

After the Texas Rangers come to town this weekend, the Red Sox will finish up the 2011 season against all of their AL East rivals. They have six games against the Toronto Blue Jays (four road, two home), seven games against the Rays (three road, four home), three against the Yankees (all road games) and seven games against the Orioles (three road, four home).

So if you think the Red Sox have the AL East wrapped up, I wouldn’t count your chickens before the hatch. By no means am I saying they can’t do it because they can. What I’m saying is that I wouldn’t expect any of those four teams to lay down for the Red Sox. All of them would like nothing better than to play spoilers for the Red Sox winning the division.

With the Red Sox having the scheduled off day today, we’ll be back in a short while with the pitching matchups for the series with the Yanks. But for now enjoy the overnight links from the media.

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

Light in August: Red Sox rotation takes turn for better [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

Catcher still gets geared up [Boston Globe]

Perfect Sox storm? [Boston Globe]

Streaky Carl Crawford focusing on fine finish [Boston Herald]

Erik Bedard, John Lackey bolstering Sox rotation [Boston Herald]

Theo saved Ellsbury from Gonzalez trade [Boston Herald]

Lack of explosiveness [Boston Herald]

Middle men [Boston Herald]

Sox benefit from two-day break before Yankees [CSN New England]

Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees have plenty to play for [ESPN Boston]

Twenty games later, the Red Sox get a rest [Extra Bases]

Jason Varitek’s Career Has New Life, Continues to Provide Invaluable Presence for Red Sox [NESN.com]

Justin Verlander Latest Pitcher to Prove Hurlers Deserve Most Valuable Player Award Consideration [NESN.com]

Red Sox enjoying rare back-to-back days off [Projo Sox Blog]

Ortiz picking up where he left off [Projo Sox Blog]

Lowrie’s season has been uneven, but he’s helped Sox plenty [Providence Journal]

Former Red Sox return for hallmark telethon [RedSox.com]

A look at the making of the new Josh Beckett [Rob Bradford – 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.

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

Photo credit: Getty Images

When the UConn Huskies kick off their 2011 football campaign on Thursday night against the Fordham Rams, it will be the 20th straight year that Connecticut football will be broadcast on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

Anchoring the network will be WTIC AM-1080 in Hartford, the state’s only 50,000 watt AM station.

Joe D’Ambrosio, known as “Joe D” around these parts, will be broadcasting UConn football for his 19th consecutive season. He is an anchor at WVIT-TV (NBC 30) and is a host heard nationwide on ESPN Radio, hosting “Countdown to Kickoff” on Sunday mornings during the NFL while also hosting the Sunday Night Baseball Game of the Week pre and post game shows.

Joining Joe D in the booth is Wayne Norman who handles the color commentary for Huskies. He’s been the Huskies football analyst since 1981. Norman has been in radio for over 40 years having called over 1100 UConn sporting events since 1981. Norman is also the Sports Director/Program Director and morning host for WILI in Willimantic. The pair also partners up for the men’s basketball games as well.

Kevin Nathan will be providing in game updates from the sidelines and during games. This will be the 5th straight year that Nathan has done the sideline reporting. You can also catch Nathan on WVIT-TV (NBC 30).

The UConn pregame show begins 90 minutes prior to kickoff, while for home games, the UConn Tailgate Show will air two and a half hours prior to the game with Kevin Nathan and Bob Joyce. UConn football on home dates gets going early with “Breakfast At The Rent” with Ray Dunaway and Scott Gray beginning at 6:00 a.m.

Stations on the WTIC/UConn Football Network are:

• WTIC-AM 1080 in Hartford, CT
• WILI-AM 1400 in Willimantic, CT
• WSUB-AM 980 in New London, CT

UConn football games are also broadcast over the internet at WTIC.com.

For the ninth consecutive season, WTIC AM-1080 will air the “Coach’s Show w/ Paul Pasqualoni,” featuring UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni and broadcaster Joe D’Ambrosio.

The show will air on Thursday evenings of standard game weeks. Here’s a  full look at the 2011 UConn football schedule.

Not even the outer bands of Hurricane Irene could prevent the Boston Red Sox from sweeping the day/night doubleheader from the Oakland A’s on Saturday. She tried her best causing a few rain delays but in the end they were able to get both games in.

In game one, it was a solid effort from Jon Lester as well as some support from the offense in a 9-3 win. In the second game, a rain delay cost Erik Bedard a chance at his first win in a Red Sox uniform but Alfredo Aceves was spectacular out of the bullpen in a 4-0 win to wrap up a long day of baseball at the Fens.

Lester hadn’t been his dominating self in his past few starts as he issued more walks than he would have liked. Saturday afternoon, he limited that to just two while allowing two runs (one earned) on just three hits with four strikeouts in six innings of worked. He would have pitched the 7th inning but two warmup tosses to the backstop during a driving rain brought the tarp to the field.

With Lester doing his thing on the mound, the offense was doing it’s thing as well. Lester got some help from his batterymate, the Captain, Jason Varitek, who blasted a two run homer and finished with three RBIs in the game. David Ortiz got his stellar afternoon started with two hits and two RBIs.

The only member of the starting nine who didn’t have a hit in the first game was Carl Crawford but he did add an sacrifice fly for an RBI. Mike Aviles had three hits as did Adrian Gonzalez and Marco Scutaro.

Bedard battled knee soreness and commnad issues early on in the second game but got through it. With the way he was pitching, the odds were he probably would have picked up the win. But just as he came out to warmup in the 5th inning, the tarp came out with a heavy rain falling upon Fenway.

The command issues that lead to four walks didn’t hurt him as he allowed just two hits while striking out five. Aceves backed him up though throwing three innings while allowing just a walk with three strikeouts to pick up his 9th win of 2011.

With a couple of days off, Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon finished off the shutout.

The offense in the second game was led by Big Papi who had three hits, including a two-run johnson in the 2nd inning. Jarrod Saltalamacchia added the other two RBIs in the game.

So while it was a long day at the Fens, it was a productive day. They got two wins and at the very least on the end of the day Sunday will still hold a one-game lead over the New York Yankees. It could be as high as three as well since they’re playing a doubleheader today.

With Hurricane Irene moving today’s game to yesterday and the off day for the Red Sox on Monday, we won’t see them back in action until Tuesday night when the Yankees come to town for a three-game set. So for now enjoy the overnight links from the media.

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

Money closer, but no Moneyball: How Papelbon ended up in Boston and not Oakland [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

No raining on Lester’s parade [Boston Globe]

A sizzling Ortiz (5 for 8) stinging in the rain [Boston Globe]

Rotation decisions to come [Boston Globe]

Shining moments [Boston Globe]

What are brass tacks with Epstein, Cashman? [Boston Globe]

Soggy Red Sox sweep [Boston Herald]

Umps say finish first [Boston Herald]

An encore for Theo Epstein: Curses foiled again [Boston Herald]

Sox complete sweep of Athletics, 4-0 [CSN New England]

Lester fights through soggy conditions [CSN New England]

Rain costs Bedard first win with Sox [CSN New England]

Red Sox notes: ‘Tek makes history with home run [CSN New England]

Bedard, Aceves dodge raindrops [ESPN Boston]

Still plenty on the line for Sox-Yankees [ESPN Boston]

Even on days he goes deep, it’s still all about ‘little things’ for Jason Varitek [Full Count]

Closing Time: Red Sox defeat A’s, elements to sweep Saturday doubleheader [Full Count]

With Irene almost in attendance, the destructive force of David Ortiz continued on Saturday [Full Count]

Video: Jon Lester Says Rain Made It Difficult to Grip Baseball on Saturday, Didn’t Expect Weather to Delay Game Like It Did [NESN.com]

Video: Jason Varitek Says He’s Learned to Back Off This Season, But Always Ready to Step in and Contribute [NESN.com]

Jon Lester Wins Third Straight, Focused on Another Dominant Stretch Run [NESN.com]

Video: Terry Francona Impressed With Erik Bedard’s Ability to Escape Jams Against Oakland [NESN.com]

Sweep is worth the wait [Providence Journal]

Varitek isn’t acting his age [Providence Journal]

Middlebrooks of PawSox, Mallett of Pats are best of buddies [Providence Journal]

Iglesias is living his dream [Providence Journal]

Red Sox journal: Ellsbury’s power not a total surprise [Providence Journal]

Rain delays bring back memories from 2009 [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 Oakland Tribune and San Francisco Chronicle websites.

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

Photo credits: AP Photo, 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 some of the other sports. 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

With Edsall gone, UConn players learn Pasqualoni way [CT Post]

UConn players going through “slight” adjustment period [CT Post]

Five questions for the Huskies and five players to watch [CT Post]

UConn Depth Chart Shows Young LB Corps [Hartford Courant]

Huskies embracing role as underdogs [New Haven Register]

UConn’s offensive line assignments being finalized [Norwich Bulletin]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Andre Drummond, UConn Men’s Basketball: I’s to dot, T’s to Cross [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Sources: Hathaway’s successor helped bring Drummond to UConn [CT Post]

Andre Drummond’s Arrival A Cause To Rejoice, But Now Some Questions [Hartford Courant]

Player has to give up scholly for Drummond [Andy Katz – ESPN.com]

Other UConn related links

M. Soccer. Huskies Open Season With 2-0 Victory Over St. Francis [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Soccer. UConn wins men’s soccer season opener [Norwich Bulletin]

W. Volleyball. UConn Concludes Action At TCU Tournament [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Soccer. Offensive threats on the field [TimesLeader.com]

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

After taking game one earlier this afternoon, the Boston Red Sox look to sweep the day and take the series in the rubber game of a three-game set against the Oakland Athletics at Historic Fenway Park.

Today’s first pitch is scheduled for 6:50 p.m. and will be broadcast in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the A’s broadcast area, you can catch the game on CSN California. And if you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2011 Red Sox Radio Network.

Erik Bedard gets the ball in the second game in his 21st start of the season and fifth in a Red Sox uniform. In four starts with the local nine, Bedard is 0-2 with a 4.09 ERA. In his 20 starts on the season between Seattle and here, he is 4-9 with a 3.57 ERA. He has not faced the A’s this season and has not faced them since the 2009 season. He’s made 10 career starts against the A’s and is 4-3 with a 2.89 ERA. In his last four starts against them, he is 4-0 with a 0.63 ERA (2 ER/28.2 IP).

The A’s called up Graham Godfrey from Triple-A Sacramento to make the start in the second game. He made three starts earlier in the season for the A’s and was 1-1 with a 4.24 ERA. He has not faced the Red Sox in his brief career.

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 this evening’s game 2 lineups:

60-72		81-51
1. Jemile Weeks	2B	1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF
2. Coco Crisp	CF	2. Marco Scutaro	SS
3. Hideki Matsui	DH	3. Adrian Gonzalez	1B
4. Josh Willingham	LF	4. Dustin Pedroia	2B
5. Brandon Allen	1B	5. David Ortiz	DH
6. Scott Sizemore	3B	6. Jed Lowrie	3B
7. David DeJesus	RF	7. Carl Crawford	LF
8. Cliff Pennington	SS	8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C
9. Anthony Recker	C	9. Josh Reddick	RF
Graham Godfrey	SP	Erik Bedard	SP

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

Notes: Scott Atchison has been optioned back to Pawtucket. Michael Bowden has been called up to replace him on the 25-man roster.

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

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

Are We Saying Goodbye to the Muddy Chicken? [SOX & Dawgs]

Notes: Atchison optioned back, Bowden called up [CSN New England]

Sox shrug off rain, Athletics, 9-3 [CSN New England]

Where weather, baseball geeks collide [ESPN Boston]

Rapid reaction: Red Sox 1, Irene 0 [ESPN Boston]

MLB rules barred umps from calling Game 1 [Extra Bases]

Curt Schilling on Sports Saturday: Theo Epstein to Cubs ‘wouldn’t surprise me’ [Full Count]

Red Sox notes: Terry Francona suggests ‘I think the way the divisions are set up is not fair’ [Full Count]

Closing Time: Red Sox blow away A’s in rain-lengthened contest [Full Count]

Terry Francona Favors Playoff Expansion But Wants Balanced Divisions [NESN.com]

Clay Buchholz to Meet With Medical Staff, Could Start Throwing Soon [NESN.com]

Video: Jason Varitek Proving He Still Has Plenty Left in the Tank, As Red Sox Catchers Continue to Produce [NESN.com]

Francona wants to win the East [Projo Sox Blog]

Rain-soaked win for Lester [Projo Sox Blog]

Umpires explain decision to finish Game 1 of doubleheader [Projo Sox Blog]

Atchison demoted; Bowden joins Sox’s bullpen [RedSox.com]

Francona keeping tabs on Hurricane Irene [RedSox.com]

Lackey, Beckett, Lester to face Yanks next week [RedSox.com]

Storm chasers: Lester, ‘Tek power Red Sox [RedSox.com]

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

Photo credits: AP Photo, Reuters Pictures

After getting shellacked last night in the series opener, the Boston Red Sox look to rebound in the first game of a day/night doubleheader against the Oakland A’s at Historic Fenway Park.

Today’s first pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. and will be broadcast in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the A’s broadcast area, you can catch the game on CSN California. And if you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2011 Red Sox Radio Network.

Jon Lester looks to get the Red Sox back on track in his 25th start of 2011. In his previous 24 starts, Lester is 13-6 with a 3.16 ERA. He has not faced the A’s in 2011 and last faced them in 2009 when he went 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA (10 ER/11.1 IP) in two starts. He’s made eight career starts against the A’s and is 2-3 with a 4.95 ERA.  Four of those starts have come at the Fens where he is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA (11 ER/22 IP).

Guillermo Moscoso makes his 18th appearance (16th start) of 2011 for the A’s. In his previous 17 appearances (15 starts). Moscoso is 6-7 with a 3.28 ERA. He’s made two appearances out of the bullpen this season against the Red Sox and is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA (1 ER/3 IP).  Those two appearances mark the only time he’s faced the Red Sox in his career with both of them coming at the Fens.

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 this afternoon’s game 1 lineups:

60-71		80-51
1. Jemile Weeks	2B	1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF
2. Cliff Pennington	SS	2. Marco Scutaro	SS
3. Coco Crisp	CF	3. Adrian Gonzalez	1B
4. Josh Willingham	DH	4. Dustin Pedroia	2B
5. Brandon Allen	1B	5. David Ortiz	DH
6. Conor Jackson	LF	6. Carl Crawford	LF
7. Kurt Suzuki	C	7. Josh Reddick	RF
8. Ryan Sweeney	RF	8. Jason Varitek	C
9. Scott Sizemore	3B	9. Mike Aviles	3B
Guillermo Moscoso	SP	Jon Lester	SP

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

Notes: Scott Atchison has been optioned back to Pawtucket. Michael Bowden has been called up to replace him on the 25-man roster.

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

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Are We Saying Goodbye to the Muddy Chicken? [SOX & Dawgs]

Pregame notes before Game 1 of a doubleheader [Clubhouse Insider]

Sox-A’s playing doubleheader Saturday [ESPN Boston]

Bowden up, Atchison down [ESPN Boston]

Pregame from Fenway [Extra Bases]

A little pre-game news from Fenway [Extra Bases]

Despite struggles, Matt Albers feels he’s been a few pitches away from better August [Full Count]

Red Sox Lefty Andrew Miller Earns Amica Pitcher of the Week Honors [NESN.com]

Video: Red Sox Outfielder Darnell McDonald Jokes He May Be Ready to Pitch in Postseason [NESN.com]

Ellsbury showed power in college, but not this much [Projo Sox Blog]

Sox hoping to get in two today [Projo Sox Blog]

Lester to kick off doubleheader vs. A’s [RedSox.com]

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Photo credits:  AP Photo, Getty Images