After the city of Boston celebrated the Boston Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup Championship run on Saturday, the Boston Red Sox couldn’t pull out a win over the Milwaukee Brewers that night. But on Sunday afternoon with the Bruins and the Stanley Cup in the house, it was a totally different story.

The Red Sox used that energy to put up six runs in the 1st inning while riding the knuckleball of Tim Wakefield to pick up a relatively easy 12-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. By the way, this is a Brewers team who is in first place in the NL Central.

There’s not much you can say about Wakefield that already hasn’t been said. The man just goes out there and simply put, does his job like he’s asked.

He’s been absolutely outstanding filling in for Daisuke Matsuzaka in the Red Sox rotation. He’s definitely not making it easy on Terry Francona and the Red Sox brass from pulling him out of the rotation. With Clay Buchholz now on the disabled list and Andrew Miller up from Pawtucket, Wake will stay in the rotation for the time being.

After that, it’s anyone’s guess. But if he continues to do what he’s been doing, he could find himself there for the long haul. On Sunday, all he did was go eight innings, allowing three runs on three hits and one walk while striking out six to pick up his fourth win of 2011. He’s now just three wins shy of 200 in his career and nine short of  Cy Young and Roger Clemens Red Sox record of 192 wins.

The offense made sure Wake would have an easy time on Sunday afternoon when they scored four of the six runs in the 1st without recording an out. Given the fact the local nine was facing the Brewers ace in Yovani Gallardo, you didn’t think it would be so easy. But thankfully it was.

Jacoby Ellsbury started things off with a single and went to second on a Dustin Pedroia single. Both runners moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch and then Ellsbury came into score when Adrian Gonzalez reached on error by Gallardo. Kevin Youkilis would clear the bases with a three-run homer and after four batters, the Red Sox held a 4-0 lead.

It didn’t stop there though.

David Ortiz reached on an infield single followed by a J.D. Drew single with Big Papi stopping at second.  Marco Scutaro moved the runners up a base when he made the first out of the inning on a groundout to first base. Gallardo struck out Jarrod Salatlamacchia but then walked Josh Reddick to load the bases. Up for the second time in the inning, Ellsbury picked up his second hit, a ground-rule double, that scored two more and made it 6-0.

The Red Sox would add two more in the 4th on a Pedroia solo home run and Ortiz fielder’s choice RBI. Pedroia added a sac fly in the 5th and Scutaro a two-run shot in the 6th. A Gonzalez RBI single in the 7th finished off the scoring.

With Buchholz now out as well as Carl Crawford and Jed Lowrie, the Red Sox will have to piece things together. But as we’ve seen time and time again, the players filling in usually step up. We really can’t call Scutaro a fill-in player as he had the starting job before Lowrie got hot. But since returning from the DL, Scutaro has been hitting the ball well and deserves to be in the lineup.

If the combination of Darnell McDonald, Drew Sutton, Reddick and Mike Cameron can do the job of filling in for Crawford things will be just fine for the Red Sox going forward. I’m not worried about the pitching one bit as we’ve seen the jobs that Wake and Alfredo Aceves have done. Plus with all of this offense lately plus great starting pitching, the bullpen has been getting some much needed rest and should be fresh going forward.

The Red Sox will now welcome the former team of their first baseman in the San Diego Padres to town. It will also mark the Fenway Park debut of former Red Sox prospect Anthony Rizzo who was one of the players traded to the Padres for Gonzalez.

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

Offense is at full blast as Red Sox rout Brewers [Boston Globe]

Fast to forget about milestone [Boston Globe]

Buchholz latest to land on DL [Boston Globe]

Trophy sample for Sox [Boston Herald]

Back to future [Boston Herald]

Adrian Gonzalez legs out 1,000th career hit [Boston Herald]

Trading places: Buchholz out, Miller in [Clubhouse Insider]

Fenway celebrates Bruins’ Cup victory [CSNNE.com]

Sox shell Gallardo in 12-3 win over Brewers [CSNNE.com]

Wakefield comfortable, shining in starting role [CSNNE.com]

Gonzalez makes his 1,000th hit a memorable one [CSNNE.com]

Miller: A tall pitcher with high hopes [CSNNE.com]

Notes: Red Sox get team effort offensively [CSNNE.com]

Rapid reaction: Red Sox 12, Brewers 3 [ESPN Boston]

Plodding Gonzalez triples for 1,000th hit [ESPN Boston]

Tim Wakefield makes more memories with victory [ESPN Boston]

Bradley returns for Gamecocks in CWS [Extra Bases]

Video: Vega’s analysis of Red Sox-Brewers series finale [Extra Bases]

Red Sox and Padres connections run deep [Extra Bases]

Closing Time: Red Sox 12, Brewers 3 [Full Count]

Adrian Gonzalez proves a point to Terry Francona and Jacoby Ellsbury [Full Count]

Video: Kevin Youkilis Says Boston Sports Is Like Fraternity of Athletes [NESN.com]

Video: Tim Wakefield Enjoying Routine, Repetition of Being in Rotation [NESN.com]

Video: Clay Buchholz Hopes Rest While on Disabled List Will Enable Him to Fully Recover from Lingering Back Issues [NESN.com]

Bruins Tribute, Six-Run First Make for Wild Times at Fenway Park [NESN.com]

Tim Wakefield, ‘Young’ for a Knuckleballer, Getting Better With Age As He Approaches Sox’ All-Time Win Record [NESN.com]

Rich Hill among Red Sox to enjoy Bruins’ ceremony [Projo Sox Blog]

Wakefield, Sox bats and foghorn blast Brewers [Providence Journal]

After fast start in ’06, then falling back to minors, Sox hope Miller’s time is now [Providence Journal]

Red Sox Journal: Buchholz heads to DL; Miller debuts Monday [Providence Journal]

Even Adrian Gonzalez’s speed (or lack thereof) can’t slow him down [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]

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

And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the Capitol Times, Green Bay Press Gazette and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel websites. You can also visit our Bloguin brother The Brewers Bar.

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 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.

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 Women’s Basketball links

Big day for former Huskies [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

UConn Huskies Making The Sun Shine In 2011 [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Maya Moore solid in first homecoming as a pro [Gwinnett Daily Post]

From Hardwood to Sand: Basketball Player Scores a Win in Beach Volleyball [Manhattan Beach Patch]

UConn Football links

DT Mikal Myers Commits; Chooses UConn Over Penn State [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

Four Inducted Into Fairfield County Hall of Fame [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Soccer. Stephanie Labbe To Represent Canada At Women’s World Cup [UConnHuskies.com]

When Clay Buchholz left his last start after five innings, he was hoping to avoid the disabled list. After all the Red Sox already have seven people on it after Jed Lowrie and Carl Crawford were added to it on Friday and Saturday.

The Red Sox have already lost Daisuke Matsuzaka for the season and John Lackey also saw time on the DL before returning two weeks ago. Of course Alfredo Aceves and Tim Wakefield did admirable jobs with Wake continuing the success on Sunday afternoon after eight strong innings in a 12-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

But the case of Buchholz is different.

Here you have a young pitcher battling through back problems. We saw it with Josh Beckett last year and we all know how his season went. But we’ve also seen how good Beckett has been this year pitching healthy.

So with that in mind and the fact it’s only June, the Red Sox decided to place Buchholz on the 15-day disabled list with a lower back strain. Taking his place on the 25-man roster and the rotation for the time being will be Andrew Miller who was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket.

Miller did have an opt-out clause in contract for June 15th but decided not to use it after talking with Red Sox GM Theo Epstein. Instead, he was promised that he was part of the future and would be called in a short time.

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

The promotion of Miller is with merit too. He’s had a good year for the PawSox and probably has been their best and most consistent pitcher all season. He’s made 13 appearances (12 starts) and was 3-3 with a 2.47 ERA.  He’s holding hitters to a .181 clip and has 61 strikeouts in 65.2 innings with just 35 walks and 42 hits allowed.

Now he’ll get a chance to show the Red Sox what he’s got when he takes the mound on Monday night against the San Diego Padres. You can bet that there’ll be many people rooting for him on that night including his old college teammate Daniel Bard.

For Buchholz, this is the right thing to do. There’s still a lot left in the season and the goal is for him to be healthy for the latter months of the season, hopefully including the playoffs. Backs are tricky, trust me I know first hand.

So hopefully a little rest and therapy gets will get his back back to normal because we know how good Clay can pitch when he’s healthy. Hopefully, it’ll come on July 2nd when he’s eligible to come off the DL.

And in case you were wondering who the others on the disabled list for the Red Sox are besides Buchholz, Lowrie, Crawford and Matsuzaka, they are Rich Hill, Bobby Jenks, Franklin Morales and Junichi Tazawa.

Photo credit: AP Photo

Here’s the press release from USA Basketball with details of UConn Huskies shooting guard Jeremy Lamb being named a finalist for the USA Basketball U-19 Team:

Thirteen players, including five with prior USA Basketball experience, were named Sunday as finalists for the 2011 USA Men’s U19 World Championship Team. The selections, which were made by the USA Basketball Junior National Team Committee, came after three-days, four training sessions, during the USA U19 Team training camp that got underway Friday. The USA squad will look to defend the gold medal won in 2009 at the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship that runs June 30-July 10 in Latvia.

Named as a finalist for the USA U19 World Championship squad were: Keith Appling (Michigan State/Detroit, Mich.); James Bell (Villanova/Orlando, Fla.); Anthony Brown (Stanford/Huntington Beach, Calif.); .); Jahii Carson (Mesa High School/*Arizona State/Phoenix, Ariz.);Tim Hardaway, Jr. (Michigan/Miami, Fla.); Joe Jackson (Memphis/Memphis, Tenn.); Jeremy Lamb (Connecticut/Norcross, Ga.); Meyers Leonard (Illinois/Robinson, Ill.); Khyle Marshall (Butler/Davie, Fla.); Javon McCrea (Buffalo/Newark, N.Y.); Doug McDermott (Creighton/ Ames, Iowa); Tony Mitchell (North Texas/Dallas, Texas); and Patric Young (Florida/Jacksonville, Fla.).

George Mason University mentor Paul Hewitt is head coach of the USA U19 World Championship Team, and is being assisted by collegiate head coaches Randy Bennett of St. Mary’s College and Cliff Warren of Jacksonville University.

“I think our inside players are tremendous. We have some good balance and some guys that can shoot the basketball. Obviously, it was a hard decision to come down to 13, and we still have to make one more decision before we go overseas,” said Hewitt.

“The focus from here has got to be on defense. I don’t think that we can be a team that’s going to have the most continuity, so we have to be a really good defensive team and capitalize on our ability to get stops in transition.”

Training camp for the selected finalists continues Sunday afternoon through Thursday, June 23, with the official 12-member USA U19 roster being announced prior to the team’s departure for Europe on June 24. The 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship for Men is being held June 30-July 10 in Valmiera, Liepaja and Riga, Latvia.

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Five of the finalists possess prior USA Basketball experience including two players from the 2010 USA U18 National Team that captured gold at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship.

Mitchell and Young were part of USA Basketball’s 2010 U18 team, while Leonard and Young participated on the USA Junior National Select Team that won the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit.

Other players possessing prior USA Basketball trials experience included Appling and Bell, while Jackson was invited to the 2010 U17 Trials but was unable to participate.

Included among the finalists are 12 student-athletes who attended a NCAA Division I school in 2010-11 and one (Carson) player who completed his high school career this year.

Twelve colleges and nine conferences have representation on the USA finalists roster.

Lamb helped lead the University of Connecticut to the 2011 NCAA title and along the way was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team after averaging 16.2 ppg. and 4.8 rpg. Marshall was a freshman for NCAA runner-up Butler.

Six athletes listed among their NCAA conference all-freshman squads following the 2010-11 season, including three who were named their conference’s freshman of the year. McCrea was named the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year, and McDermott was named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Additionally, Jackson collected MVP honors for the Conference USA Tournament, Lamb was named to the Big East Conference All-Tournament Team and McDermott was also named All-Missouri Valley Conference first team. Named to their respective conference all-freshman teams were: Brown (Pac-10), Hardaway (Big Ten), Lamb (Big East), McCrea (Mid-American), McDermott (Missouri Valley) and Young (Southeastern).

Additionally, McCrea was tabbed by CollegeInsider.com to its Mid-Major Freshmen All-America team; McDermott was named to the USBWA Freshman All-America second team, while Hardaway, McDermott and Young were each named to the 2011 CollegeInsider.com Freshman All-American Team.

The 2009-12 USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Committee is chaired by NCAA representative Jim Boeheim (head coach, Syracuse University), and also includes NCAA appointees Lorenzo Romar (head coach, University of Washington), Bruce Weber (head coach, University of Illinois) and Roy Williams (head coach, University of North Carolina); and athlete representative Jay Williams, a member of the 2002 USA World Championship Team.

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.

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 Men’s Basketball links

Jim Calhoun And Kevin Ollie Discuss Kemba Walker’s Future In The NBA [Hartford Courant]

Uconn Players Drafted During The Jim Calhoun Era [Hartford Courant]

Where will Kemba Walker wind up? [New Haven Register]

UConn Football links

Pasqualoni Featured Speaker At Lauren’s First And Goal Camp [UConnHuskies.com]

UConn Football Has High-Tech Weightlifting Program [Hartford Courant]

After falling 4-2 last night, the Boston Red Sox look to take the rubber game of a three-game set from the Milwaukee Brewers at Fenway Park this afternoon.

Today’s first pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. and you can watch the game on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Brewers television market, you can catch the game on Fox Sports North. If you don’t live in either market you’re in luck as well as TBS will have coverage of the game. And if you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2011 Red Sox Radio Network.

Tim Wakefield will make his 8th start (17th appearance) of the season for skipper Terry Francona.  In his previous 16 appearances (seven starts), Wake is 3-2 with a 4.39 ERA. Wake has made 11 starts against the Brewers in his career, including two since their move to the National League in 1998. In those 11 starts, he is 5-2 with a 3.33 ERA. Six of those starts have come at the Fens where he is 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA.

Yovani Gallardo makes his 16th start of the season for the Brew Crew. In his previous 15 starts, Gallardo is 8-3 with a 3.76 ERA. Today will mark his first career appearance and start against the Red Sox.

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

Here are today’s lineups:

40-32		42-28
1. Rickie Weeks	2B	1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF
2. Corey Hart	RF	2. Dustin Pedroia	2B
3. Ryan Braun	DH	3. Adrian Gonzalez	1B
4. Prince Fielder	1B	4. Kevin Youkilis	3B
5. Casey McGehee	3B	5. David Ortiz	DH
6. Yuniesky Betancourt	SS	6. J.D. Drew	RF
7. Nyjer Morgan	LF	7. Marco Scutaro	SS
8. Carlos Gomez	CF	8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C
9. Jonathan Lucroy	C	9. Josh Reddick	LF
Yovani Gallardo	SP	Tim Wakefield	SP

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

Before today’s game, Clay Buchholz was placed on the 15-day DL with a back strain. He was replaced on the 25-man roster by Andrew Miller who will make his Red Sox debut on Monday.

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

How Adrian Gonzalez became the biggest bargain in baseball [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

Red Sox stymied by Wolf [Boston Globe]

Lester went deep after homers [Boston Globe]

Crawford placed on the DL [Boston Globe]

Going, going, gone [Boston Herald]

Tito left with big decisions [Boston Herald]

Slow start by Lester [Boston Herald]

Bruins’ parade a reminder [Boston Herald]

With Carl Crawford out, Red Sox could use hot streak from J.D. Drew [Clubhouse Insider]

Red Sox place Clay Buchholz on DL to open spot for Andrew Miller [Clubhouse Insider]

Lester struggles early, Sox fall 4-2 [CSNNE.com]

Wolf stymies Red Sox offense [CSNNE.com]

Red Sox notes: Unfamiliarity hurts Lester [CSNNE.com]

Notes: Sox to honor Bruins before game [CSNNE.com]

Reddick gets another shot [ESPN Boston]

Rapid reaction: Brewers 4, Red Sox 2 [ESPN Boston]

From Cameron to Clemons… a few thoughts [ESPN Boston]

AL leaderboard, a/k/a AGonz’s resume [ESPN Boston]

When Wakefield maxed out [ESPN Boston]

Buchholz to DL with back strain [ESPN Boston]

Wakefield tries to pitch Red Sox past Brewers [ESPN Boston]

Carl Crawford hopes to return from DL by Houston series [Extra Bases]

Pregame notes: Francona talks Drew, Miller and Cameron [Extra Bases]

Bruins honored at Fenway [Extra Bases]

Red Sox place Clay Buchholz on the disabled list [Extra Bases]

Closing Time: Brewers play powerball to beat Lester, Sox [Full Count]

Lester, the longball and the arbitrary nature of wins [Full Count]

Clay Buchholz makes it a Red Sox weekend trifecta on the DL [Full Count]

Video: Terry Francona Will Be Forced to Piece Together Red Sox Lineup With Carl Crawford on Disabled List [NESN.com]

Video: Jon Lester Tips Hat to Brewers Starter Randy Wolf, Says He Was Outpitched on Saturday [NESN.com]

Carl Crawford Hopes to Return From Hamstring Injury Soon, But Knows Not to Push It Too Much [NESN.com]

Video: Jarrod Saltalamacchia Credits Brewers’ Aggressiveness at Plate for Saturday’s Offensive Success [NESN.com]

Red Sox Stymied by Randy Wolf in 4-2 Loss, Give Credit to Veteran Left-Hander [NESN.com]

Video: Mike Cameron and Jerry Remy Answer Questions From Young Fans [NESN.com]

Video: Johnny Damon Could End Up in Hall of Fame When It’s Said and Done [NESN.com]

Clay Buchholz to Disabled List; Andrew Miller Will Start on Monday [NESN.com]

Clay Buchholz lands on disabled list [Projo Sox Blog]

Francona still keeping the faith in J.D. Drew [Projo Sox Blog]

Boston can’t overcome Brewer bombs [Providence Journal]

Sox will be facing an unfamiliar face in Gallardo [Providence Journal]

Red Sox Journal: Crawford (hamstring) placed on DL [Providence Journal]

Red Sox deploy Wakefield seeking rebound [RedSox.com]

Red Sox hoping to right the right-field ship [RedSox.com]

Red Sox put Buchholz on DL, call up Miller [RedSox.com]

Boston, Milwaukee a double duel [Sweet Spot]

Photo credits: AP Photo, AP Photo

After an offensive explosion in the win last night, the Boston Red Sox look to make it two in a row over the Milwaukee Brewers in game two of a three-game set at Fenway Park.

Tonight’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. and you can watch the game on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Brewers television market, you can catch the game on Fox Sports North. 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 goes for a MLB-leading 10th win in his 15th start of 2011. In his previous 14 starts, Lester is 9-2 with a 3.73 ERA. He’s never faced the Brewers in his career. Lester has made 14 career interleague starts and is 8-2 with a 2.99 ERA. In three interleague starts in 2010, Lester was 2-1 with a 1.64 ERA (4 ER/22 IP).

Randy Wolf makes his 15th start of 2011 for the Brew Crew and his first against the Red Sox since 2004. In his 14 starts this season, Wolf is 4-4 with a 3.20 ERA. He’s made five career starts against the Red Sox and is 2-1 with a 2.73 ERA. Three of those starts have come at the Fens where he is 1-1 with a 2.79 ERA (6 ER/19.1 IP).

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

Here are tonight’s lineups:

39-32		42-27
1. Rickie Weeks	2B	1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF
2. Corey Hart	RF	2. Dustin Pedroia	2B
3. Ryan Braun	LF	3. Adrian Gonzalez	1B
4. Prince Fielder	1B	4. Kevin Youkilis	3B
5. Casey McGehee	3B	5. David Ortiz	DH
6. Yuniesky Betancourt	SS	6. Darnell McDonald	LF
7. Josh Wilson	2B	7. Marco Scutaro	SS
8. Carlos Gomez	CF	8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C
9. George Kottaras	C	9. Mike Cameron	RF
Randy Wolf	SP	Jon Lester	SP

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

After suffering a hamstring injury last night, Carl Crawford has been placed on the 15-day disabled list. He’s been replaced on the 25-man roster by Josh Reddick.

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

Cashman: Still ‘not true’ that Yankees tampered with Red Sox’ Miller [Clubhouse Insider]

Crawford to DL a ‘no-brainer’ [Clubhouse Insider]

Tito glad he called Claude [Clubhouse Insider]

Red Sox early notes: Crawford to DL [CSNNE.com]

Lester seeks 10th win tonight against Brewers [ESPN Boston]

Crawford on DL for only 2d time in career [ESPN Boston]

Youkilis back in after stomach flareup [ESPN Boston]

Best sports town? Boston will keep the title until Apple gets an attitude adjustment [ESPN NY]

Carl Crawford placed on the disabled list [Extra Bases]

Francona: Putting Crawford on the disabled list ‘a no-brainer’ [Full Count]

John Lackey Takes Pressure Off Thin Bullpen, Shows Signs of Complete Turnaround [NESN.com]

Carl Crawford Placed on 15-Day Disabled List With Left Hamstring Strain, Josh Reddick Recalled [NESN.com]

Carl Crawford lands on DL, Reddick called up [Projo Sox Blog]

Lowrie expects second opinion on shoulder next week [Projo Sox Blog]

City of Boston’s latest title resonates with Sox [RedSox.com]

Red Sox look to keep rolling behind Lester [RedSox.com]

Crawford lands on DL with hamstring strain [RedSox.com]

Photo credits: AP Photo, Getty Images

Apparently the National League can’t slow the down the Boston Red Sox offensive juggernaut at least for now. The Red Sox offense continued their dominance at the plate last night at Fenway Park in a 10-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

After the 1st inning though, it looked like it might be just another typical John Lackey start where he sucks. And I’ll admit I’m not a big fan of him at all. But after allowing two runs in the 1st inning and then two more in the 3rd inning, Lackey settled in and retired 15 straight batters before Nyjer Morgan singled in the 8th inning. But Lackey promptly got out of the inning when Ryan Braun flew out to Jacoby Ellsbury who doubled off Morgan at first.

Lackey needed 58 pitches to get through the first three innings. He then needed just 53 more to get through the next five innings. Hopefully Lackey bought Dustin Pedroia an adult beverage or two last night because if it wasn’t for the Laser Show flashing the leather in the 3rd inning, Lackey might have been done sooner rather than later.

With the bases loaded and no out in the 3rd, Casey McGehee smoked a shot up the middle but Pedroia made an incredible diving start to start a 4-6-3 double play. Although the tying run scored on the play, this is where Lackey began his run of retiring 15 straight batters. Honestly, it wasn’t like Lackey was hit hard in that inning, the balls just happened to fall in the right places.

But without Pedroia stopping that ball, it’s quite possible the Brewers could have taken a 5-4 lead and still had two runners on the bases and no outs.

It didn’t take long for the Red Sox offense to pick up their pitcher in the 1st after he had allowed two runs.

Ellsbury started it with a solo home run off of Brewers starter Shaun Marcum. After Pedroia flew out, Adrian Gonzalez picked up the first of his three hits on the night with a single. Two batters later, David Ortiz brought home Speedy Gonzalez from first base to tie the game up at two.

The bad news that came from the 1st inning for the Red Sox is the fact that Carl Crawford had to leave the game after straining his hamstring beating out an infield single. He was diagnosed with a grade 1 strain of his hamstring and will be reevaluated later today before a decision is made as to whether or not he’ll be placed on the DL.

Marcum left the game with an injury after the first and the Red Sox got to his replacement Marco Estrada for two more runs in the second.

Pedroia reached on a two-out walk and went to third on a Gonzo bot double. They both came into score on a Kevin Youkilis single to make it 4-2. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, they would lose Youk after the 4th inning with a case of the ol’ “intestional turmoil”. By the way, there’s no truth to the rumor that the skidmarks on Youk’s pants were from a case of the runs.

The hitting machine that is Gonzalez put the Red Sox ahead for good in the 5th when he went over the Green Monster for his 15th home run of the season and a MLB-leading 62nd RBI. Oh by the way, those three hits for Gonzo on the night raised his average to a paltry .352. Remember folks, we get seven more years of this.

The offense would bust this game open in the 6th and 7th innings with five more runs.

It was great to see Lackey bounce back with his third straight win in as many starts after returning from the disabled list. But it was also nice to see the offense not let up after being slowed down just a tad in Tampa. The Red Sox win last night also increased their lead back to 2.5 games over the New York Yankees who lost to the Chicago Cubs.

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

The Achilles’ heel? Sox reminded of a vulnerability on Friday [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

Sox show punch [Boston Globe]

Righty made an impression [Boston Globe]

Crawford strains hamstring [Boston Globe]

Red Sox firing on all cylinders [Boston Herald]

Dustin Pedroia’s shining ‘D’ [Boston Herald]

Rich Hill has his rehab plan set [Boston Herald]

Carl runs into trouble [Boston Herald]

Sox take fizz out of Brewers, 10-4 [CSNNE.com]

Lackey appreciates offensive support [CSNNE.com]

Red Sox notes: MRI reveals Grade-1 strain for Crawford [CSNNE.com]

Rapid reaction: Red Sox 10, Brewers 4 [CSNNE.com]

Pedroia a buzz killer for Brewers [ESPN Boston]

Postgame updates on Crawford and Youkilis [Extra Bases]

Rich Hill: No plans to change arm slot post Tommy John [Full Count]

Closing Time: It’s a big 10-4 for Red Sox in win over Brewers [Full Count]

Crawford to be re-evaluted Saturday after suffering Grade 1 hamstring strain [Full Count]

Red Sox prove Bruins don’t have monopoly on clutch offense and defense [Full Count]

Video: Tom Werner: ‘This Has Been Such a Great Time to Be a Sports Fan in Boston’ [NESN.com]

Red Sox Congratulate Bruins on Stanley Cup Win With Sign Behind Home Plate at Fenway Park [NESN.com]

NESN, Red Sox Congratulate Bruins on Stanley Cup Win With Full-Page Ad in The Boston Globe [NESN.com]

Video: Drew Sutton’s Readiness Pays Off With Solid Effort in Place of Kevin Youkilis in Win Over Brewers [NESN.com]

Carl Crawford Suffers Hamstring Strain, Will Be Re-Evaluated on Saturday [NESN.com]

More Sparkling Defense From Dustin Pedroia Sparks John Lackey, Red Sox in Win Over Brewers [NESN.com]

Josh Beckett’s Dominant One-Hit Performance Earns Him Amica Pitcher of the Week Honors [NESN.com]

Pedroia’s defensive gem helps Boston find its groove [Providence Journal]

Scutaro finally getting back into the swing of things [Providence Journal]

Red Sox Journal: Lowrie to the DL, Crawford suffers hamstring strain [Providence Journal]

Dice-K, Hill making progress following surgery [RedSox.com]

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

And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the Capitol Times, Green Bay Press Gazette and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel websites. You can also visit our Bloguin brother The Brewers Bar.

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 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.

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UConn Men’s Basketball links

UConn And The NBA Draft: From The Courant Files [Hartford Courant]

UConn Football links

Pasqualoni To Spend Monday At ESPN [UConnHuskies.com]

Looking Back At A UConn Football Game From 2010: UConn 38, Cincinnati 17 [Hartford Courant]

UConn Huskies Football Coach In The Spotlight: George DeLeone [Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

M. Soccer. Men’s Soccer Releases 2011 Schedule [UConnHuskies.com]

Here’s the press release from the Boston Red Sox detailing the signing of 12 of their 2011 MLB Draft picks so far.

BOSTON, MA – The Boston Red Sox today announced that the club has signed 12 players selected in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft, including left-handed pitcher Miguel Pena, the club’s sixth-round selection, and first baseman Travis Shaw, taken in the ninth round of this year’s draft.

Red Sox Director of Amateur Scouting Amiel Sawdaye made the announcement.

Pena was the Red Sox sixth-round pick, taken out of San Jacinto Junior (TX) College. The left-hander earned a National Junior College Athletic Association All-American honorable mention selection this year and was a unanimous All-Region XIV South Conference honoree after going 10-3 with a team-best 1.91 ERA (18 ER/85.0 IP) and 93 strikeouts in 14 starts.

Shaw, selected out of Kent State University in the ninth round, was a First-Team All-Mid-American Conference selection this year, leading the MAC with 14 home runs while batting .307 (75-for-244) with a .553 slugging percentage and 51 RBI in 62 games as the Flashes won both Mid-American Conference regular season and tournament championships. His father Jeff pitched parts of 12 seasons in the Majors from 1990-2001.

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Also among those who have signed is third baseman Matt Gedman out of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who was Boston’s pick in the 45th round. Matt’s father Rich was a catcher for 13 Major League seasons, including 11 with the Red Sox, and is currently the hitting coach with Boston’s Short-A Lowell affiliate. Matt Gedman earned a First-Team All-Star selection by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association, was named to the Atlantic 10 Baseball All-Conference First Team and was chosen as the 2011 National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America District I Player of the Year. He led the A-10 with a .402 average (76-for-189) in 45 games for the Minutemen this season and posted the second-highest hits total in school history for a single season.

The Red Sox have signed two other players with New England ties, right-handed pitcher Brenden Shepard out of Stonehill College in Easton, MA (28th round) and right-hander Corey Vogt (39th round) out of New Hampshire’s Keene State College. Shepard is a native of Boxford, MA and collected 10 saves while posting a 3.63 ERA (9 ER/22.1 IP) with 34 strikeouts in 20 relief appearances for the Skyhawks in 2011. Vogt, a two-time All-Little East Conference reliever, had 4 saves while posting a 2.82 ERA (7 ER/22.1 IP) and 30 strikeouts in 16 relief outings with Keene State this year.

Additional signings announced today include left-handed pitcher Kevin Brahney (11th round), right-hander Mike McCarthy (14th round), right-hander Andrew Jones (18th round), outfielder Drew Turocy (24th round), first baseman David Chester (33rd round), catcher Carlos Coste (35th round) and right-handed pitcher Jadd Schmeltzer (49th round).