Oakland A’s @ Boston Red Sox 7:10 p.m. Fenway Park – Boston, MA SP: Gio Gonzalez vs John Lackey TV: NESN, MLB.tv Radio: Red Sox Radio Network

Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 6/1 [SOX & Dawgs]

After a split of the four-game set with the Kansas City Royals, the Boston Red Sox welcome the Oakland A’s to town for a three-game set to close out the homestand at Fenway Park.

Tonight’s game will start at 7:10 p.m. and will be shown on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the A’s television market, you can catch the game on CSN California. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2010 Red Sox radio network.

John Lackey has had an up-and-down 2010 in his first season with the Red Sox as he’s struggled with his command at times. In ten starts, he is 5-3 with a 4.84 ERA. Lackey made three starts as a member of the Angels against the A’s in 2009 and was 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA. He’s made 29 career starts against the A’s and is 16-4 with a 2.76 ERA.

Gio Gonzalez makes his 11th start of the season for the A’s and Bob Geren. In his previous ten starts, he is 5-3 with a 3.54 ERA. He’s made one career start against the Red Sox and that came in 2009. The game took place on 7/30/09 at the Fens and Gonzalez received a no-decision after allowing three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Keep reading for lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and pregame links.

Here’s the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers in their careers:

Here’s an update for the Red Sox concerning the weather forecast for tonight’s game:

The current weather forecast (provided by the Red Sox private weather service, Telvent DTN) in the vicinity of Fenway Park calls for showers and thunderstorms during the early afternoon and evening hours. Conditions are expected to improve as the evening progresses.

The Fenway Park gates will open at the regularly scheduled time of 5:10 p.m., and the Red Sox are hopeful that tonight’s game against the Oakland Athletics, which is scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m., will begin on time. However, the Red Sox want to alert our fans to the current forecast and to the possibility of delay.

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AL All-Star Voting Update – 6/1 [SOX & Dawgs]

Cameron feeling ‘a little sore’ [Clubhouse Insider]

Cameron out of lineup [CSN New England]

Scutaro’s problems are a pain in the neck [CSN New England]

Kalish promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket [ESPN Boston]

Cameron out, Ellsbury not close [ESPN Boston]

Whole lotta love for Doc from Tito [ESPN Boston]

Ask Amalie: Sunny times ahead for Sox? [Extra Bases]

Kalish promoted to Pawtucket [Extra Bases]

Cameron out with soreness [Extra Bases]

Francona bonds with Doc Rivers [Extra Bases]

Red Sox pre-game notes, 6/1 [Full Count]

Jacoby Ellsbury Responds to Criticisms of His Toughness [NESN.com]

Red Sox Could Call Upon Amherst High School Lefty Kevin Ziomek in MLB Draft [NESN.com]

Stretching Crucial to Being Able to Stay Fresh Behind the Plate for Jason Varitek [NESN.com]

Terry Francona: I’m a Big Doc Rivers Fan [NESN.com]

Cameron “sore,” getting extra day off [Projo Sox Blog]

Ellsbury hitting in the cage, still hurting [Projo Sox Blog]

Beckett discussion expected before Tuesday’s game [Projo Sox Blog]

Francona as excited as anyone about Celts’ run [Projo Sox Blog]

Red Sox’s Lackey, A’s renew acquaintances [RedSox.com]

Papi seeks return to All-Star Game [RedSox.com]

The second round of balloting for the American League All-Star voting is out and we still don’t find any members of the Boston Red Sox at the top. And with four weeks to go, we’ve got some voting to do to get them to the top.

The only player on the Red Sox near the top of the voting is second baseman Dustin Pedroia who is still 324,000 votes behind the leader Robinson Cano. And once again thanks to Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays who is preventing an all-Yankees infield right now.

First baseman Kevin Youkilis sits in fourth place 312,000 votes behind Mark Teixeira. Third baseman Adrian Beltre is in fourth place, 725,000 votes behind Longoria while Victor Martinez is 918,000 votes in third place behind Joe Mauer at the catching position. David Ortiz is 490,000 votes behind Vladimir Guererro in fourth place at the DH position.

None of the Red Sox outfielders are in the top 15 of the voting.

So fans of Red Sox Nation, it’s time to vote Red Sox across the 2010 MLB All-Star Game Ballot.

A full look at the voting totals after the jump.

Here are the voting totals as of 6/1/2010

Over the weekend for the Memorial Day holiday, the Boston Red Sox along with the rest of MLB wore special Stars & Stripes caps. This is something MLB has done over the past few years with a portion of the sale of the caps going to the Welcome Back Veterans fund.

Had the Red Sox wore pinstripes, they could have doubled for the Cincinnati Reds.

The caps will be worn again for the July 4th weekend as well as on 9/11.

So what do you think of the Red Sox Stars & Stripes cap? Would you buy one to wear? Or would you buy one for your collection or would you just stay with the traditional “B” cap?

After falling in the first two games to the Kansas City Royals, solid outings from Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester gave the Boston Red Sox wins to earn a split of the four-game set at Fenway Park. The two wins to close out the month gave the Red Sox 18 for the month and pushed their record to 29-23.

On June 1, 2009, the Red Sox were 29-22 after a strong April only to falter in May. They sat one game behind the New York Yankees in second place and one game ahead of the third place Toronto Blue Jays. On June 1, 2010, with an almost identical record, the Red Sox find themselves in fourth place, five games behind the Rays for first, 1½ games behind the Blue Jays for third and 2½ behind the Yankees for second.

One of the biggest differences between the two seasons is the Red Sox record at home. The Red Sox usually enjoy success at Fenway Park but this year they find themselves at 16-13 and are 13-10 on the road. Last year at this time, the Red Sox were 17-6 at the Fens but were 12-16 on the road. Home cooking just isn’t what it used to be for the Red Sox.

One reason why the Red Sox had a good month of May was because David Ortiz found his bat speed again.

He started off the month of April ice cold as he hit just .143 with one home run and four RBIs. But as he regained his confidence and the trust of skipper Terry Francona in May, Big Papi hit .363 with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs. His average now sits at .272 with 11 home runs and 31 RBIs and he’s been batting in the three spot as of late, a spot in the lineup he hadn’t seen in a long time.

Another reason for the hot May by the Red Sox is the left arm of Jon Lester.

After a tough April that saw him go 1-2 with a 4.71 ERA in five starts, Lester has completely turned the tables and been dominating lately. In six starts in May, he was 5-0 with a 1.84 ERA to push his record to 6-2 with a 2.97 ERA.

And we can’t leave out Clay Buchholz because if it weren’t for him, the Red Sox may have had even worse April.

In four starts in April, Buchholz was 2-2 with a 2.19 ERA. And in May, he’s been even better as he was 5-1 with a 3.08 ERA to give him a 7-3 record with a 2.73 ERA. Both of those totals lead the starters on the team. Buchholz has shown the faithful why Theo Epstein and the brain trust won’t move him.

After a month of April where the Red Sox were pretenders, Big Papi, Lester and Buchholz showed the rest of the league that the Red Sox are contenders in May. There’s still 110 games to go but if the Red Sox can continue to play good baseball, they should find themselves in a position at the end of the season to move on to the postseason.

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

Bard Diary: Season’s up-and-downs [Daniel Bard – ESPN Boston]

Powerful statement from Red Sox prospects [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

Lackey staying under control [Boston Globe]

All signs are positive for Beltre, Red Sox [Boston Globe]

Jacoby Ellsbury has hard time with soft label [Boston Herald]

Marco Scutaro eager to impress old boss [Boston Herald]

Pitching ignites Red Sox’ turnaround [Boston Herald]

Sox have turned around their nightmare start [CSN New England]

Manny moments on the rise [ESPN Boston]

Sox made hay in May [ESPN Boston]

Report: Sox trade Van Every to Pirates [Full Count]

Kalish promoted to Triple-A [Full Count]

The Factors – Week 8 [Full Count]

Portland Sea Dogs Pitcher Casey Kelly Struggles With Control Problems [NESN.com]

Which Red Sox Player Will Break Out Next? [NESN.com]

With Ellsbury out, Scutaro has provided stability atop Red Sox lineup [Providence Journal]

Look out, pitchers: Papi has swagger back [RedSox.com]

Sox timing works for McDonald [Tom Caron – Portland Press Herald]

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

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UConn Football links

The Big East’s best: No. 25, Zach Hurd [Big East Blog – ESPN.com]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Geno’s Cancer Team/Pilot Pen Tennis team up [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Some Thoughts on the UConn Crisis [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Other UConn related links

Baseball: Huskies To Take on Oregon in 2010 NCAA Tournament [UConnHuskies.com]

Oregon gets its invitation [The Register-Guard]

On Sunday afternoon, the UConn Huskies baseball team found out they would be hosting a regional at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, CT which is the new home of the Connecticut Tigers. The Tigers are the new team in Norwich this season and play in the NY/Penn League.

On Monday afternoon, the Huskies found out who will be in the regional as the Florida State Seminoles, Huskies, Oregon Ducks and Central Connecticut Blue Devils were placed in the Norwich Regional. UConn is the only host of a regional that isn’t a No. 1 seed.

It’s the first appearance for the Huskies in the NCAA Tournament since 1994. The Huskies, who fell to St. John’s 3-0 in the Big East Championship on Sunday afternoon, will take on the Ducks at approximately 7 p.m. on Friday, June 4th. Florida State will take on Central Connecticut earlier in the day at 2 p.m.

The two winners will meet on Saturday, June 5th at 6:30 p.m. while the losers will meet at 2:00 p.m. that afternoon.

Here’s the entire schedule for the Norwich Regional:

June 4th –

• Florida State vs Central Connecticut, 2:00 p.m.
• UConn vs Oregon, 7:00 p.m.

June 5th

• Winner’s bracket game, 2:00 p.m.
• Loser’s bracket game, 6:30 p.m. (loser is eliminated)

June 6th

• Loser of winner’s bracket vs winner of loser’s bracket, 2:00 p.m. (loser is eliminated)
• Winner of June 5th winners bracket game vs winner of the 2:00 p.m. game, 6:30 p.m.(if winner hasn’t lost, they win the regional)

June 7th

• If necessary game, 7:00 p.m. (only both teams from 6:30 game on 6/6 have one loss)

If you’re interested in tickets to the Norwich Regional, head over to the UConn Huskies Ticket Center.

Tuesday, June 1^st @ 7:10 p.m.

Gio Gonzalez, LHP (5-3, 3.54) vs John Lackey, RHP (5-3, 4.84)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Wednesday, June 2^nd @ 7:10 p.m.

Ben Sheets, RHP (2-3, 4.91) vs Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP (3-2, 5.77)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio

Thursday, June 3^rd @ 1:35 p.m.

Brett Anderson, LHP (2-1, 1.88) vs Tim Wakefield, RHP (1-3, 5.68)

TV: NESN, MLB.tv

Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio